Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
TITLE
Method and System for Providing Enhanced Location Based Trilateration
RELATED APPLICATIONS
100011 This application claims benefit of priority to U.S. Patent Application
No.
14/993,618, filed January 12, 2016, which claims benefit of priority to U.S.
Provisional Application No. 62/102,853 entitled "Method and System for
Providing Enhanced Location Based Trilateration" filed January 13, 2015, and
is
a continuation in part of U.S. Patent Application No. 14/950,595, entitled
"Method and System for Providing Enhanced Location Based Information for
Wireless Handsets" filed on November 24, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.
Patent Application No. 14/823,244, entitled "Method and System for Providing
Enhanced Location Based Information for Wireless Handsets" filed on August
11, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 14/293,056
entitled "Method and System for Providing Enhanced Location Based
Information for Wireless Handsets" filed June 02, 2014, which is a
continuation
of U.S. Patent Application No. 13/585,125 entitled "Method and System for
Providing Enhanced Location Based Information for Wireless Handsets" filed
August 14, 2012, and issued July 22, 2014 as U.S. Patent No. 8,787,944, which
claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/575,300,
entitled "Method and System for Providing Enhanced Location Based
Information for Wireless Handsets" filed August 18, 2011, and U.S. Provisional
Application No. 61/573,636, entitled "Method and System for Providing
Enhanced Location Based Information for Wireless Handsets" filed September 9,
2011, the entire contents of all of which are hereby incorporated by
reference.
This application is also related to U.S. Patent Application No. 14/961,088
entitled Method and System for Providing Enhanced Location Based Server
1
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
Trilateration using a Single Device filed on December 07, 2015, the entire
contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0002] The present application relates generally to a wireless mobile
communication system, and more particularly to methods and systems that
provide enhanced location information for wireless mobile devices.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Wireless communication technologies and mobile electronic devices
(e.g.,
cellular phones, tablets, laptops, etc.) have grown in popularity and use over
the
past several years. To keep pace with increased consumer demands, mobile
electronic devices have become more powerful and feature rich, and now
commonly include global positioning system (GPS) receivers, sensors, and many
other components for connecting users to friends, work, leisure activities and
entertainment. However, despite these advancements, mobile devices remain
lacking in their ability to provide effective location based services,
information,
or communications. As mobile devices and technologies continue to grow in
popularity and use, generating enhanced location information for mobile
devices
is expected to become an important and challenging design criterion for mobile
device manufactures and network engineers.
SUMMARY
[0004] The various aspects include methods of determining a location of a
mobile
device via enhanced location based trilateration, the method including
receiving,
via a processor of the mobile device, location information from one or more
external devices, the received location information including a waypoint from
2
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
each of the one or more external devices, each waypoint including a coordinate
value, an altitude value and a range value, the range value identifying a
distance
from a external device to the mobile device, determining the validity of each
of
the received waypoints, performing normalization operations to normalize the
received valid waypoints, assigning an overall ranking to each of the
normalized
waypoints, assigning an device-specific ranking to each of the normalized
waypoints, and storing the normalized waypoints in memory, selecting four
waypoints from memory based on a combination of the overall ranking and the
device-specific ranking associated with each waypoint, applying the four
selected
waypoints to a kalman filter to generate a final location waypoint, and using
the
generated final location waypoint to provide a location based service.
[0005] In an embodiment, receiving location information from one or more
external devices may include receiving location information from one or more
of
a mobile device, a device having a Cell ID, a WiFi device, a Bluetooth device,
an
RFID device, a GPS device, a location beacon transmitting device, and external
trilateration location information. In a further embodiment, determining the
validity of each of the received waypoints may include determining a range
value
for each waypoint included in the received location information, and
determining
the validity of each of the received waypoints based on its corresponding
range
value. In a further embodiment, determining the validity of each of the
received
waypoints may include determining a confidence value for each waypoint
included in the received location information, and determining the validity of
each of the received waypoints based on its corresponding confidence value. In
a
further embodiment, receiving location information from one or more external
devices may include establishing communication links to each of a plurality of
external devices in a communication group, and receiving location information
from only the external devices in the communication group.
3
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0006] In a further embodiment, selecting four waypoints from memory based on
a combination of the overall ranking and the device-specific ranking
associated
with each waypoint may includes selecting one of the waypoints included in the
received location information and three previously generated waypoints from
the
memory. In a further embodiment, selecting four waypoints from memory based
on a combination of the overall ranking and the device-specific ranking
associated with each waypoint may include selecting two of the waypoints
included in the received location information and two previously generated
waypoints from the memory. In a further embodiment, selecting four waypoints
from memory based on a combination of the overall ranking and the device-
specific ranking associated with each waypoint may includes selecting three of
the waypoints included in the received location information and one previously
generated waypoints from the memory.
[0007] Further embodiments may include a computing device having a processor
configured with processor-executable instructions to perform various
operations
corresponding to the methods discussed above. Further embodiments may
include a computing device having various means for performing functions
corresponding to the method operations discussed above. Further embodiment
may include a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored
thereon processor-executable instructions configured to cause a processor to
perform various operations corresponding to the method operations discussed
above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitute
part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention,
and,
4
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242
PCT/US2016/013235
together with the general description given above and the detailed description
given below, serve to explain features of the invention.
[0009] FIG. 1 is a communication system block diagram illustrating network
components of an example telecommunication system suitable for use in a
mobile-device centric approach for determining the location of a mobile device
in accordance with various embodiments.
100101 FIG. 2 is a communication system block diagram illustrating network
components of an example telecommunication system suitable for use in a
network centric approach for determining the location of a mobile device in
accordance with various embodiments.
[0011] FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example mobile device suitable for use
in
grouping with other mobile devices and computing precise location information
in accordance with the various embodiments.
100121 FIG. 4A is a communication system block diagram illustrating network
components of an example LTE communication system suitable for use with
various embodiments
100131 FIG. 4B is a block diagram illustrating logical components,
communication links and information flows in an embodiment communication
system.
100141 FIGs. 5A-5C are component block diagrams illustrating functional
components, communication links, and information flows in an embodiment
method of grouping mobile devices and sharing location information between
grouped mobile devices.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0015] FIG. 5D is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment mobile
device method for grouping mobile devices and sharing location information
between grouped mobile devices and the network to compute enhanced location
information.
[0016] FIGs. 6A-6D are component block diagrams illustrating functional
components, communication links, and information flows in an embodiment
method for computing location information in which the grouped/paired mobile
devices are updated with their respective location information.
[0017] FIG. 6E is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment system
method of determining the location of two or more grouped mobile devices.
[0018] FIG. 6F is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment mobile
device method of adjusting the update intervals in response to detecting a low
battery condition.
[0019] FIG. 7 is a component block diagram illustrating functional components,
communication links, and information flows in embodiment method of
periodically scan for cells.
[0020] FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram illustrating an embodiment mobile
device method for determining the location of a mobile device in a wireless
network.
[0021] FIGs. 9A-9E are component block diagrams illustrating various logical
and functional components, information flows and data suitable for use in
various
embodiments.
6
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0022] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an embodiment hybrid
lateration method by which mobile devices may gain access to the network.
[0023] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating another embodiment hybrid
lateration method in which a mobile device cannot locate a network due
coverage
problems.
[0024] FIGs. 12A-12C are component block diagrams illustrating functional
components, communication links, and information flows in an embodiment
method of transferring a connection from a local radio system to the small
cell
system.
[0025] FIGs. 13A-13C are component block diagrams illustrating functional
components, communication links, and information flows in an embodiment
method of identifying and responding to a distressed mobile device.
[0026] FIG. 14 is a component block diagrams illustrating functional
components, communication links, and information flows in an embodiment
method of performing dead reckoning grouping mobile devices in an ad-hoc
scheme.
[0027] FIG. 15 is an illustration of an enhanced antenna that may be used with
various embodiments to further improve positional accuracy.
[0028] FIG. 16A-B are illustrations of various enhanced antenna configurations
that may be used with the various embodiments to further improve positional
accuracy.
[0029] FIG. 17A-B are sectional diagrams illustrating strips of antenna
patches
that may be used in various embodiments.
7
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0030] FIG. 18 is a circuit diagram of antenna system suitable for use with
various embodiments.
[0031] FIG. 19 is an illustration of an embodiment antenna array retrofitted
into
an existing cellular wireless network in accordance with an embodiment.
[0032] FIG. 20 is a component block diagram of a mobile device suitable for
use
with an embodiment.
[0033] FIG. 21 is a component block diagram of a server suitable for use with
an
embodiment.
[0034] FIG. 22 is a flow diagram that illustrates various components,
operations,
and information flows in a system configured to perform location-based
operations in accordance with an embodiment.
[0035] FIG. 23 is a flow diagram that illustrates an embodiment location-based
method in which a mobile device operates as a master.
[0036] FIG. 24 is a flow diagram that illustrates an embodiment location-based
method in which a mobile device operates as a slave
[0037] FIG. 25 is a component block diagram illustrating functional
components,
communication links, and information flows in system configured to perform a
method for determining and using the Latitude, Longitude, and Altitude of a
trusted or known location in accordance with an embodiment.
[0038] FIGs. 26 through 29 are component block diagrams that illustrate
sharing
of location based information between mobile devices in accordance with
various
embodiments.
8
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0039] FIG. 30A is a block diagram illustrating various components,
information flows, and operations in an example mobile device system
configured to perform enhanced location based service (eLBS) trilateration
operations in accordance with various embodiments.
[0040] FIG. 30B is a block diagram illustrating various components,
information flows, and operations in an example mobile device system
configured to perform single device eLBS trilateration operations in
accordance
with various embodiments
[0041] FIG. 30C is a block diagram illustrating various components,
information flows, and operations in a device/system configured to perform
eLBS trilateration operations in accordance with some embodiments.
[0042] FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a method of time normalization in
accordance with an embodiment.
[0043] FIG. 32 is a block diagram that illustrates various components,
operations,
and information flows in a system configured to perform location based
operations in accordance with an embodiment.
[0044] FIG. 33 is a block diagram that illustrates various components,
operations,
and information flows in a system configured to perform location based
operations in accordance with an embodiment.
[0045] FIG. 34 is a block diagram that illustrates various components,
operations,
and information flows in a system for receiving trilateration input from up to
N
units in accordance with an embodiment.
9
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0046] FIG. 35 is a block diagram that illustrates various components,
operations,
and information flows in a system configured to use a kalman filter in
accordance
with an embodiment.
[0047] FIG. 36 is a block diagram that illustrates various components,
operations,
and information flows in a system configured for multiple different types of
inputs in accordance with an embodiment.
[0048] FIG. 37 illustrates sharing of location based information between
mobile
devices in accordance with various embodiments.
[0049] FIG. 38 illustrates a block diagram that illustrates various
components,
operations, and information flows in a system in accordance to embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0050] The various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to
the
accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be
used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. References
made
to particular examples and implementations are for illustrative purposes, and
are
not intended to limit the scope of the invention or the claims.
100511 The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example,
instance, or illustration." Any implementation described herein as "exemplary"
is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other
implementations.
[0052] The terms "mobile device," "cellular telephone," and "cell phone" are
used interchangeably herein to refer to any one or all of cellular telephones,
smal __ tphones, personal data assistants (PDA's), laptop computers, tablet
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
computers, ultrabooks, palm-top computers, wireless electronic mail receivers,
multimedia Internet enabled cellular telephones, wireless gaming controllers,
and
similar personal electronic devices which include a programmable processor, a
memory and circuitry for sending and/or receiving wireless communication
signals. While the various embodiments are particularly useful in mobile
devices, such as cellular telephones, which have limited battery life, the
embodiments are generally useful in any computing device that may be used to
wirelessly communicate information.
[0053] The terms "wireless network", "network", "cellular system", "cell
tower"
and "radio access point" may be used generically and interchangeably to refer
to
any one of various wireless mobile systems. In an embodiment, wireless
network may be a radio access point (e.g., a cell tower), which provides the
radio
link to the mobile device so that the mobile device can communicate with the
core network.
[0054] A number of different cellular and mobile communication services and
standards are available or contemplated in the future, all of which may
implement and benefit from the various embodiments. Such services and
standards include, e.g., third generation partnership project (3GPP), long
term
evolution (LTE) systems, third generation wireless mobile communication
technology (3G), fourth generation wireless mobile communication technology
(4G), global system for mobile communications (GSM), universal mobile
telecommunications system (UMTS), 3GSM, general packet radio service
(GPRS), code division multiple access (CDMA) systems (e.g., cdmaOne,
CDMA2000TM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), advanced
mobile phone system (AMPS), digital AMPS (IS-136/TDMA), evolution-data
optimized (EV-D0), digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT),
11
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), wireless local area
network (WLAN), public switched telephone network (PSTN), Wi-Fi Protected
Access I & II (WPA, WPA2), Bluetooth , integrated digital enhanced network
(iden), and land mobile radio (LMR). Each of these technologies involves, for
example, the transmission and reception of voice, data, signaling and/or
content
messages. It should be understood that any references to terminology and/or
technical details related to an individual telecommunication standard or
technology are for illustrative purposes only, and are not intended to limit
the
scope of the claims to a particular communication system or technology unless
specifically recited in the claim language.
[0055] A number of different methods, technologies, solutions, and/or
techniques
(herein collectively "solutions") are currently available for determining the
location of mobile device, any or all of which may be implemented by, included
in, and/or used by the various embodiments. Such solutions include, e.g.,
global
positioning system (GPS) based solutions, assisted GPS (A-GPS) solutions, and
cell-based positioning solutions such as cell of origin (C00), time of arrival
(TOA), observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA), advanced forward link
trilateration (AFLT), and angle of arrival (AOA). In various embodiments, such
solutions may implemented in conjunction with one or more wireless
communication technologies and/or networks, including wireless wide area
networks (WWANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless personal
area networks (WPANs), and other similar networks or technologies. By way of
example, a WWAN may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network,
a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an OFDMA network, a
3GPP LTE network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and so on. The WPAN
may be a Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x network, and so on. A WLAN
may be an IEEE 802.11x network, and so on. A CDMA network may implement
12
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as CDMA2000, Wideband-
CDMA (W-CDMA), and so on.
[0056] Various embodiments discussed herein may generate, compute, and/or
make use of location information pertaining to one or more mobile devices.
Such
location information may be useful for providing and/or implementing a variety
of location-based services, including emergency location services, commercial
location services, internal location services, and lawful intercept location
services. By way of example: emergency location services may include services
relating to the provision of location and/or identification information to
emergency service personal and/or emergency systems (e.g., to 911 system);
commercial location services may include any general or value-added service
(e.g., asset tracking services, navigation services, location-based
advertising
services, etc); internal location services may include services pertaining to
the
management of the wireless service provider network (e.g., radio resource
management services, message delivery services, paging services, call delivery
services, services for providing position/location network enhancements,
etc.);
and lawful intercept location services may include any service that provides
public safety and/or law enforcement agencies with identification and/or
location
information pertaining to a mobile device or a mobile device user. While the
various embodiments are particularly useful in applications that fall within
one or
more of the categories/types of location based services discussed above, the
embodiments are generally useful in any application or service that benefits
from
location information.
[0057] Modern mobile electronic devices (e.g., mobile phones) typically
include
one or more geospatial positioning systems/components for determining the
geographic location of the mobile device. Location information obtained by
13
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
these geospatial systems may be used by location-aware mobile software
applications (e.g., Google Maps, Yelp , Twitter Places, "Find my Friends"
on Apple , etc.) to provide users with information regarding the mobile
device's
physical location at a given point in time. In recent years, such location-
based
services and software applications have increased in popularity, and now
enable
mobile device users to navigate cities, read reviews of nearby restaurants and
services, track assets or friends, obtain location-based safety advice, and/or
take
advantage of many other location-based services on their mobile devices.
[0058] Consumers of modern mobile devices now demand more advanced,
robust, and feature-rich location-based services than that which is currently
available on their mobile devices. However, despite many recent advances in
mobile and wireless technologies, mobile devices remain lacking in their
ability
to provide their users/consumers with location based services that are
accurate or
powerful enough to meet the demands of these consumers. For example, while
existing location-aware mobile software applications (e.g., "Find my Friends"
on
Apple , Google Latitude, etc.) enable a mobile device user to view the
approximate geographical position of other mobile devices on a two-dimensional
map, they lack the capability to accurately, efficiently and consistently pin
point
the precise location and/or position of the other mobile devices in all three
dimensions and/or within a wireless communication network. The various
embodiments overcome these and other limitations of existing solutions by
collecting information from multiple mobile devices, generated more precise
location information on or about one or more mobile devices, generating
advanced three-dimensional location and position information on or about one
or
more mobile devices, and using the generated location/position information to
provide mobile device users with more accurate, more powerful, and more
reliable location based services.
14
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0059] One of the challenges associated with using geo-spatial positioning
technology on a mobile device is that the mobile device's ability to acquire
satellite signals and navigation data to calculate its geospatial location
(called
"performing a fix") may be hindered when the mobile device is indoors, below
grade, and/or when the satellites are obstructed (e.g., by tall buildings,
etc.). The
presence of physical obstacles, such as metal beams or walls, may cause
multipath interference and signal degradation of the wireless communication
signals when the mobile device is indoors or in urban environments that
include
tall buildings or skyscrapers. In rural environments, the mobile device may
not
have sufficient access to satellite communications (e.g., to a global
positioning
system satellite) to effectively ascertain the mobile device's current
location.
These and other factors often cause existing geo-spatial technologies to
function
inaccurately and/or inconsistently on mobile devices, and hinder the mobile
device user's ability to fully utilize location-aware mobile software
applications
and/or other location based services and applications on his/her mobile
device.
[0060] Another problem with using existing geo-spatial positioning
technologies
is that position accuracy afforded by existing technologies is not sufficient
for
use in emergency services due to the relatively high level of position
accuracy
required by these services.
[0061] The various embodiments include improved location determination
solutions that determine the location of a mobile device at the level of
position
accuracy which is suitable for use in emergency location services, commercial
location services, internal location services, and lawful intercept location
services.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0062] Generally, there are three basic approaches for determining the
location of
mobile devices in a communication network: a mobile-device centric approach, a
network centric approach and a hybrid approach that may include aspects of
both
the mobile device centric approach and the network centric approach.
[0063] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication system 100 suitable for
implementing a mobile-device centric approach for determining the location of
a
mobile device 102 in accordance with various embodiments. The mobile device
102 may include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver in communication
with multiple geo-spatial positioning and navigation satellites 110 and a base
tower 104 of a communication network 106. The mobile device 102 may receive
(e.g., via the GPS receiver) radio signals emitted by the navigation
satellites 110,
measure the time required for the signals to reach the mobile device 102, and
use
trilateration techniques to determine the geographical coordinates (e.g.,
latitude
and longitude coordinates) of the mobile device 102. The mobile device 102
may send the geographical coordinates to the communication network 106 at
various times and/or in response to various conditions or events, such as upon
initial acquisition with the communication network 106, in response to network-
based requests, in response to third party requests, etc.
[0064] In an embodiment, the communication network may be a cellular
telephone network. A typical cellular telephone network includes a plurality
of
cellular base stations/base towers 104 coupled to a network operations center
108, which operates to connect voice and data calls between mobile devices 102
(e.g., mobile phones) and other network destinations, such as via telephone
land
lines (e.g., a POTS network, not shown) and the Internet 114. Communications
between the mobile devices 102 and the cellular telephone network may be
accomplished via two-way wireless communication links, such as 4G, 3G,
16
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
CDMA, TDMA, and other cellular telephone communication technologies. The
communication network 106 may also include one or more servers 112 coupled
to or within the network operations center 108 that provide connections to the
Internet 114.
[0065] In various embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configured to
communicate with a radio access node, which can include any wireless base
station or radio access point such as LTE, CDMA2000/EVDO, WCDMA/HSPA,
IS-136, GSM, WiMax, WiFi, AMPS, DECT, TD-SCDMA, or TD-CDMA and
switch, Land Mobile Radio (LMR) interoperability equipment, a satellite Fixed
Service Satellite (FS 5) for remote interconnecting to the Internet and PS TN.
[0066] FIG. 2 illustrates an example communication system 200 suitable for
implementing a network centric approach for determining the location of a
mobile device 102 in accordance with various embodiments. The mobile device
102 may include a circuitry for wirelessly sending and receiving radio
signals.
The communication system 200 may include a plurality of radio access points
204, 206 having installed thereon additional radio equipment 208 for measuring
the location of the mobile devices in the communication system. For example,
the mobile device 102 may transmit radio signals for reception by one or more
(e.g., typically three) radio access points 204, and the radio access points
may
receive the transmitted signals and measure the signal strength and/or radio
energy of the received signals to identify the location of the mobile device
102.
[0067] In an embodiment, the radio access points 204 may be configured to
determine the location of the mobile device relative to a known location of a
network component, such as the illustrated radio access point 206. In this
manner, the additional radio equipment 208 installed on the radio access
points
17
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
204, 206 provides the communication system 200 with similar functionality as
is
provided by a GPS receiver for signals received from the mobile device. For
example, the radio equipment on one or more of the radio access points 204 may
measure how long it takes for the radio signal to travel from the mobile
device
102 to another radio access point 206, and using trilateration techniques
(e.g.,
time of arrival, angle of arrival, or a combination thereof), the mobile
device 102
or a network server 210 may estimate the location of the mobile device 102 to
within an accuracy of 100 to 300 meters. Once the network has estimated the
latitude and longitude coordinates of the mobile device 102, this information
can
be used to determine the geo-spatial location of the mobile device 102, which
may be communicated to other systems, servers or components via the Internet
114.
[0068] Various embodiments may implement and/or make use of a hybrid
approach for determining the location of mobile devices in a communication
network, which may include aspects of both the device-centric and the network-
centric approaches discussed above with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2. For
example, an embodiment may implement a hybrid approach in which the GPS
capabilities of mobile devices, the measured signal strengths and/or radio
energy
of radio signals transmitted from the mobile devices, and known locations of
network components are used in combination to estimate the locations of one or
more mobile devices in a network. In a further embodiment, the mobile devices
and/or network components (e.g., severs, radio access points, etc.) may be
configured to dynamically determine which factors (e.g., radio signal
strength,
GPS, etc.) to measure and/or use in determining the location of the mobile
devices.
18
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0069] FIG. 3 illustrates sample components of a mobile device 102 in the form
of a phone that may be used with the various embodiments. The mobile
device/phone 102 may include a speaker 304, user input elements 306,
microphones 308, an antenna 312 for sending and receiving electromagnetic
radiation, an electronic display 314, a processor 324, a memory 326 and other
well known components of modern electronic devices.
[0070] The phone 102 may also include one or more sensors 310 for monitoring
physical conditions (e.g., location, motion, acceleration, orientation,
altitude,
etc.). The sensors may include any or all of a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a
magnetometer, a magnetic compass, an altimeter, an odometer, and a pressure
sensor. The sensors may also include various bio-sensors (e.g., heart rate
monitor, body temperature sensor, carbon sensor, oxygen sensor, etc.) for
collecting information pertaining to environment and/or user conditions. The
sensors may also be external to the mobile device and paired or grouped to the
mobile device via a wired or wireless connection (e.g., Bluetooth , etc.). In
embodiment, the mobile device 102 may include two or more of the same type of
sensor (e.g., two accelerometers, etc.).
[0071] The phone 102 may also include a GPS receiver 318 configured to receive
GPS signals from GPS satellites to determine the geographic location of the
phone 102. The phone 102 may also include circuitry 320 for transmitting
wireless signals to radio access points and/or other network components. The
phone 102 may further include other components/sensors 322 for determining the
geographic position/location of the phone 102, such as components for
determining the radio signal delays (e.g., with respect to cell-phone towers
and/or
cell sites), performing trilateration and/or multilateration operations,
identifying
proximity to known networks (e.g., Bluetooth networks, WLAN networks,
19
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
WiFi, etc.), and/or for implementing other known geographic location
technologies.
[0072] The phone 102 may also include a system acquisition function configured
to access and use information contained in a subscriber identity module (SIM),
universal subscriber identity module (USIM), and/or preferred roaming list
(PRL) to, for example, determine the order in which listed frequencies or
channels will be attempted when the phone 102 is to acquire/connect to a
wireless network or system. In various embodiments, the phone 102 may be
configured to attempt to acquire network access (i.e., attempt to locate a
channel
or frequency with which it can access the wireless/communication network) at
initial power-on and/or when a current channel or frequency is lost (which may
occur for a variety of reasons).
[0073] The mobile device 102 may include pre-built in USIM, SIM, PRL or
access point information. In an embodiment, the mobile device may be
configured for first responders and/or public safety network by, for example,
setting the incident radio system as the default and/or preferred
communication
system.
[0074] As mentioned above, despite recent advances in mobile and wireless
communication technologies, determining the specific location of a mobile
device in a wireless network remains a challenging task for a variety of
reasons,
including the variability of environmental conditions in which mobile devices
are
often used by consumers, deficiencies in existing technologies for computing
and/or measuring location information on mobile devices, and the lack of
uniform standards. For example, there is currently no universally accepted
standard for implementing or providing location-based services. As a result,
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
mobile device designers and wireless network operators, in conjunction with
local public safety and third party providers, are using a variety of
inefficient,
incoherent, and sometimes incompatible methods, technologies, solutions,
and/or
techniques to determine the location of a mobile device and/or to provide
location based services.
[0075] While there are no universally accepted standards for implementing or
providing location-based services, there are certain requirements or standards
associated with determining the location of a mobile device that may be of use
in
various embodiments. The U.S. Congress has mandated that cellular service
providers configure their networks, communication systems and/or mobile
devices so that the locations of mobile devices can be determined when a 911
call
is placed. To implement Congress's mandate, the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) requested cellular service providers upgrade their systems in
two phases (herein "Phase I" and "Phase II" respectively). While the level of
precision/accuracy provided by these Phase I and II upgrades are generally
inadequate for providing effective location based services that meet the
demands
of modern users of mobile devices, these upgrades provide a foundation from
which more effective location based solutions may be built.
[0076] As mentioned above, the FCC requested cellular service providers
upgrade their systems in two phases. In the first phase (Phase I), cellular
service
providers were to upgrade their systems so that emergency calls (e.g., 911
calls)
are routed to the public service answering point (PSAP) closest to the cell-
tower
antenna with which the mobile device is connected, and so that PSAP call-
takers
can view the phone number of the mobile device and the location of the
connecting cell-tower. The location of the connecting cell-tower may be used
to
identify the general location of the mobile device within a 3-6 mile radius.
21
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0077] In the second phase (Phase II), cellular service providers were to
upgrade
their systems so that PSAP call-takers could identify the location of the
mobile
device to within 300 meters. To meet these Phase II requirements, wireless
service providers have implemented a variety of technologies, and depending on
the technology used, can generally identify the location of the mobile device
to
within 50-300 meters. For example, on systems that have implemented a
network-based solution (e.g., triangulation of nearby cell towers, etc.), the
location of a mobile device can be determined within an accuracy of 100 meters
67% of the time, and to within an accuracy of 300 meters 95% of the time. On
systems that have adopted a mobile device-based solution (e.g., embedded
global
positioning system receivers, etc.), the location of the mobile device may be
determined to within 50 meters 67% of the time, and to within 150 meters 95%
of the time.
[0078] Existing phase I and II solutions, alone, are not adequate for
generating
location information having sufficient accuracy or detail for use in providing
accurate, powerful, and reliable location based services. Various embodiments
may use some or all of the capabilities built into existing systems (e.g., as
part of
phase I and II upgrades, device-centric systems, network-centric systems,
etc.), in
conjunction with more advanced location determination techniques, to compute
location information suitable for the advanced location based services
demanded
by today's consumers.
[0079] In addition to the three basic approaches discussed above, a number of
different solutions are currently available for determining the location of
mobile
device, any or all of which may be implemented by and/or included in the
various embodiments.
22
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0080] Most conventional location determination solutions use distance
estimation techniques that are based on single-carrier signals, and one of the
fundamental operations in ground-based (or network-centric) location
determination solutions is timing estimation of a first-arrival path of a
signal.
That is, a single-carrier signal transmitted between a transceiver and a
mobile
device can be received via multiple paths (i.e., multipath), and the multiple
paths
of the signal can have different received powers and arrival times. The
received
signal may be cross-correlated to distinguish the multiple paths of the
received
signal. In this method it is generally assumed that the first-arrival path
(e.g., first
detected signal, strongest signal, etc.) is associated with the path traveling
the
shortest distance, and hence is the right value to use in estimating distance
between the mobile device and the transceiver. Often, this first-arrival path
is the
strongest path due to zero or fewer reflections, relative to the other paths,
between the transceiver and the mobile device.
[0081] In various embodiments, the first-arrival time of the identified first-
arrival
path may be used in addition to other parameters (e.g., an estimated signal
transmission time and/or a time offset between clocks of the transceiver and
the
mobile device, etc.) to estimate distance between a mobile device and a
network
component (e.g., another mobile device, a transceiver, an access point, a base
station, etc.). The first-arrival time may be estimated by the mobile device
(e.g.,
based on the downlink received signal) or by the network component (e.g.,
based
on an uplink received signal).
[0082] The location of the mobile device may also be determined by estimating
the distance between the mobile device and a network component or other signal
sources (e.g., a transceiver, ground or satellite-based signal sources, etc.).
For
example, the location of the mobile device may be determined by performing
23
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
trilateration using estimated distances between multiple (e.g., three or more)
transceivers and the mobile device.
[0083] Another location determination solution may include computing an
observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) value by measuring the timing of
signals received from three network components (e.g., mobile devices,
transceivers, access points, etc.). For example, a mobile device may be
configured to compute two hyperbolas based on a time difference of arrival
between a reference transceiver signal and signals of two neighbor
transceivers.
The intersection of the computed hyperbolas may define a position on the
surface
of the earth that may be used by various embodiments to determine the location
of the mobile device.
[0084] The accuracy of such OTDOA solutions may be a function of the
resolution of the time difference measurements and the geometry of the
neighboring transceivers. As such, implementing an OTDOA solution may
require determining the precise timing relationship between the neighboring
transceivers. However, in existing asynchronous networks, this precise timing
relationship may be difficult to ascertain.
[0085] In various embodiments, location measurement units (LMUs) may be
added throughout a deployment region of an asynchronous network to
measure/compute timing information for one or more network components (e.g.,
transceivers) relative to a high quality timing reference signal. For example,
a
mobile device or an LMU may determine the observed time difference between
frame timing of transceiver signals, and the observed time difference may be
sent
to the transceiver or a radio network controller of the communication network
to
determine the location of the mobile device. The location of the mobile device
24
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
may also be determined based on the observed time difference and assistance
data (e.g., position of the reference and neighbor transceivers) received from
the
communication network.
[0086] Another location determination solution may include computing an
uplink-time difference of arrival (U-TDOA) based on network measurements of
the time of arrival of a known signal sent from the mobile device and received
at
multiple (e.g., four or more) LMUs. For example, LMUs may be positioned in
the geographic vicinity of the mobile device to accurately measure the time of
arrival of known signal bursts, and the location of the mobile device may be
determined using hyperbolic trilateration based on the known geographical
coordinates of the LMUs and the measured time-of-arrival values.
[0087] As discussed above, conventional location determination solutions are
typically based on single-carrier signals. The various embodiments include a
ground-based location determination solution based on multi-carrier signals. A
location determination solution based on multi-carrier signals may improve the
accuracy of the computed location information by, for example, improving the
accuracy of the timing estimation (e.g., by expanding the bandwidth of
cellular
signals). Location determination solutions based on multiple carriers may be
used in both the device-centric (e.g., mobile device-based) and network-
centric
(e.g., base station-based) approaches, and may be applied to both 3GPP and
3GPP2 wireless communication technologies.
[0088] In various embodiments, a mobile device may be configured to determine
its geospatial location based on information collected from mobile device
sensors
(e.g. gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, pressure sensor, etc.),
information
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
received from other mobile devices, and information received from network
components in a communication system.
[0089] FIG. 4A illustrates an example communication system within which the
various embodiments may be implemented. Generally, the mobile device 102
may be configured to send and receive communication signals to and from a
network 406, and ultimately the Internet 114, using a variety of communication
systems/technologies (e.g., GPRS, UMTS, LTE, cdmaOne, CDMA2000TM). In
the example illustrated in FIG. 4, long term evolution (LTE) data transmitted
from the mobile device 102 is received by a eNodeB (eNB) 404 and sent to a
serving gateway (S-GW) 408 located within the core network 406. The mobile
device 102 or serving gateway 408 may also send signaling (control plane)
information (e.g., information pertaining to security, authentication, etc.)
to a
mobility management entity (MME) 410.
[0090] The MME 410 may request user and subscription information from a
home subscriber server (HSS) 412, perform various administrative tasks (e.g.,
user authentication, enforcement of roaming restrictions, etc.), and send
various
user and control information to the S-GW 408. The S-GW 408 may receive and
store the information sent by the MME 410 (e.g., parameters of the IP bearer
service, network internal routing information, etc.), generate data packets,
and
forward the data packets to a packet data network gateway (P-GW) 416. The P-
GW 416 may process and forward the packets to a policy and control
enforcement function (PCEF) 414 which receives the packets and requests
charging/control policies for the connection from a policy and charging rules
function (PCRF) 415. The PCRF 415 provides the PCEF 414 with policy rules
that it enforces to control the bandwidth, the quality of service (QoS), and
the
characteristics of the data and services being communicated between the
network
26
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
(e.g., Internet, service network, etc.) and the mobile device 102. In an
embodiment, the PCEF 414 may be a part of, or perform operations typically
associated with, the P-GW 416. Detailed information about policy and charging
enforcement function operations may be found in "3rd Generation Partnership
Project Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects, Policy and
Charging Control Architecture," TS 23.203, the entire contents of which are
incorporated herein by reference.
[0091] In an embodiment, the network 406 may also include an Evolved Serving
Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) 418. Generally, the E-SMLC 418 collects
and maintains tracking information about the mobile device 102. The E-SMLC
418 may be configured to provide location services via a lightweight
presentation
protocol (LPP), which supports the provision of application services on top of
TCP/IP networks. The E-SMLC 418 may send or receive (e.g., via LPP)
almanac and/or assistance data to and from the MME 410 and/or eNB 404. The
E-SMLC 418 may also forward external or network initiated location service
requests to the MME 410.
[0092] In addition, the mobile device 102 may receive information from the
serving eNodeB 404 via System Information Blocks that includes the neighbor
cells to scan that are on the same system using the same frequencies or
different
frequencies, Home eNB (HeNB), in addition to CDMA, GERAN and UTRA
cells.
[0093] FIG. 4B illustrates logical components, communication links, and
information flows in an embodiment communication system 450 suitable for use
in determining the location of the mobile device. The communication system
450 may include a network location based system 452, a core network 454, and a
27
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
radio access network 456. The communication system 450 may also include an
application component 458, a position calculation component 460, a wireless
grouping component 462, and a sensor data component 464, any or all of which
may be included in a mobile device 102. The application component 458 (e.g.,
client software) may request and receive location information from the network
location based system 452 (e.g., through the core network 454 and the radio
access network 456). Likewise, the network location based system 452 (or
another client attached to, or within, the core network 454) may request and
receive location information from the application component 458.
[0094] In various embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configured to
determine its geospatial location based on information collected from mobile
device sensors (e.g. gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, pressure sensor,
etc.), information received from other mobile devices, and information
received
from network components in a communication system. In an embodiment, the
collection and reporting of sensor information may be controlled/performed by
the sensor data component 464. For example, the application component 458
may retrieve/receive sensor information from the sensor data component 464 and
send the sensor information to the position calculation component 460 to
compute the location of the mobile device locally for position updates and/or
position augmentation. The application component 458 may also send the
computed location information to the network location based system 452 and/or
other mobile devices.
[0095] As mentioned above, in various embodiments, the mobile device 102 may
be configured to determine its geospatial location based on information
collected
from other mobile devices. In these embodiments, two or more mobile devices
may be organized into groups. Each mobile device may also share its location
28
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
information with the other mobile devices with which the mobile device is
grouped. For example, mobile devices may be configured to share their current
location and/or position information (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude,
velocity,
etc.) and an estimate of a distance between themselves and a target mobile
device
with other mobile devices in their group.
[0096] In an embodiment, the grouping of mobile devices may be controlled by
the wireless grouping component 462. For example, the application component
458 may retrieve wireless group information (e.g., information pertaining to
the
locations of other mobile devices) from the wireless grouping component 462,
and send the group information to the position calculation component 460 to
perform local calculations for position updates and/or position augmentation.
In
an embodiment, the position calculation component 460 may perform the local
calculations based on both sensor information received from the sensor data
component 464 and group information received from the wireless grouping
component 462.
[0097] In an embodiment, the mobile device 102 may be configured to
automatically share its location information with other mobile devices upon
discovery of the other mobile devices. Mobile devices may augment their
location information (e.g., position coordinates) with information received
from
other mobile devices within same geographic location, and in a controlled
pseudo
ad-hoc environment. Since the shared location information (e.g., latitude,
longitude, altitude, velocity, etc.) involves a relatively small amount of
data, in
an embodiment the mobile devices may receive such information from a network
server by in-band and/or out-of-band signaling.
29
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0098] When implemented in a 3GPP-LTE network, the various embodiments
may include an E-SMLC 418 component configured to send and receive location
information (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, velocity, etc.) to and from
the
mobile devices, which may be achieved both on-net and off-net. The location
information may be delivered in standard formats, such as those for cell-based
or
geographical co-ordinates, together with the estimated errors (uncertainty) of
the
location, position, altitude, and velocity of a mobile device and, if
available, the
positioning method (or the list of the methods) used to obtain the position
estimate
[0099] To aid in the determination of the locations of mobile devices, 3GPP-
LTE
networks have standardized several reference signals. Various embodiments may
use these reference signals for timing based location and positioning
solutions.
Such reference signals may include the primary and secondary synchronization
signals and the cell specific reference signals.
[0100] As mentioned above, two or more mobile devices may be organized into
groups. Mobile devices within the same group may be part of the same network,
or may be associated with different networks and/or network technologies. The
mobile devices within the same group may also operate on different network
operating systems (NOSs) and/or radio access networks (RANs).
101011 FIGs. 5A-5C illustrate functional components, communication links, and
information flows in an embodiment method of grouping mobile devices and
sharing location information between grouped mobile devices. With reference to
FIG. 5A, after a mobile device 102 is powered on, the mobile device 102 may
scan the airwaves for predefined and/or preferred radio frequency carriers
and/or
systems with which the mobile device 102 may connect to the network. If the
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
mobile device 102 does not find an appropriate network with which it may
connect (or loses its connection) the mobile device 102 may scan the airwaves
for other radio access systems (e.g., mobile network, radio access point
associated with a mobile device, etc.) to acquire (i.e., connect to) until a
connection to a network/Internet 510 is established. These operations may also
be performed in the event of a dropped call or power interruption.
[0102] The mobile device 102 may also begin acquiring GPS signals while
scanning the airwaves for radio frequency carriers and/or systems. If the
mobile
device 102 cannot acquire GPS signals, a network component (not illustrated)
may help determine the relative position of the mobile device 102 based on one
or more of the location determination solutions discussed herein (e.g., based
on
the antenna used for the radio access point, the time delay, angle of arrival,
etc.).
[0103] The mobile device 102 may acquire (i.e., connect to) an appropriate
radio access system, radio frequency carrier and/or system via the mobile
device's system acquisition system. In the examples illustrated in FIGs. 5A-
5C,
the mobile device 102 establishes a connection to a network 510 via an eNodeB
404. However, it should be understood that any or all of the communication
technologies discussed above are contemplated and within the scope of the
various embodiments.
[0104] After the mobile device 102 acquires the radio access system, the
network 510 (i.e., a component in the network such as a server) will know the
approximate location of the mobile device 102 (e.g., via one or more of the
location determination solutions discussed above, such as proximity to base
towers). In addition, the mobile device 102 may compute its current location
(e.g., via GPS and/or the location determination solutions discussed above),
store
31
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242
PCT/US2016/013235
the computations in a memory of the mobile device, and report its current
location to the network 510.
[0105] In addition to knowing the approximate location of the mobile device
102, the network 510 may also be informed of the locations of other mobile
devices 502 and the proximity of the other mobile devices 502 to the recently
acquired mobile device 102.
[0106] FIG. 5B illustrates that the network 510 may send
instructions/commands to the mobile devices 102, 502 to cause the mobile
devices 102, 502 to group with mobile devices 102, 502 and possibly others. In
an embodiment, the network 510 may be configured to automatically group the
mobile devices 102, 502 based on the proximity of the mobile devices 102, 502
with respect to one another. In an embodiment, the network 510 may be
configured to allow an incident command system (ICS) commander to group the
devices. In an embodiment, the network 510 may be configured to allow the
mobile devices to form groups based on their proximity to one another.
[0107] FIG. 5C illustrates that the mobile device 102 may pair/group with
another mobile device 502 and/or establish communication links so that the
mobile devices 102, 502 may share real-time relative location information with
each other. Two or more grouped/paired mobile devices 102 and 502 may
identify their relative positions to each other by sending relative location
information over the established communication links. The relative location
information may include time-to-arrival, angle-of-arrival, and existing or
self-
aware location information.
[0108] The mobile devices 102, 502 may be configured report sensor
information to each other and/or the network 510. The sensor information may
32
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
include x, y, z coordinate information and velocity information. The sensor
information may be polled on a continuous basis, may be requested
periodically,
and/or made available on demand in response to network/system requests.
101091 In an embodiment, a mobile device 102, 502 may be configured to
report sensor information in response to determining that there is a high
likelihood that there has been change in a location of the mobile device 102,
502
(e.g., in response to detecting motion). The mobile devices 102, 502 may also
be
configured collect and report sensor information to the network 510 in
response
to receiving an instruction/command from the network 510 (i.e., a component in
the network such as a server or E-SLMC 418 illustrated in FIG. 4). The network
510 (i.e., a component in the network) may be configured to receive the sensor
and location information from the mobile devices 102, 502, and compute and
store information about the distances (e.g., in time delay and angle of
arrival with
respect to the mobile devices 102, 502).
101101 In an embodiment, the reporting of sensor information may be based on
local parameter settings. For example, the mobile devices 102, 502 may be
configured to transmit sensor information when any of the measured parameters
(e.g., x, y, z, and velocity information) meet or exceed a threshold value
(e.g.,
exceed a rate-of-change, meet a timeout limit), which may be identified by
local
parameter settings stored in a memory of the mobile devices 102, 502. In an
embodiment, the mobile devices 102, 502 may be configured to re-compute
and/or update their location information in response to determining that the
measured parameters (e.g., x, y, and z coordinates and velocity information)
meet
or exceed a threshold value.
33
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0111] In an embodiment, a mobile device 102 and/or the network 510 (i.e., a
component in the network) may be configured to compare collected sensor
information to computed latitude and longitude coordinates, relative altitude
information, and other available information to determine if there is a
discrepancy between the collected/measured values and the expected values.
When it is determined that there exists a discrepancy between the expected and
measured values, the mobile device 102 and/or network 510 may perform
additional measurements to improve the location accuracy of the
measurements/location information.
[0112] FIG. 5D illustrates an embodiment mobile device method 550 for
grouping mobile devices and sharing location information between grouped
mobile devices and the network to compute enhanced location information.
After a mobile device is powered on, in block 552, the mobile device may scan
the airwaves for predefined and/or preferred radio frequency carriers and/or
systems with which the mobile device may connect. In block 554, the mobile
device may begin acquiring GPS signals while scanning the airwaves for radio
frequency carriers and/or systems. If the mobile device cannot acquire GPS
signals, the mobile device or a network component may, as part of block 554,
determine the relative position of the mobile device based on one or more of
the
location determination solutions discussed herein. In block 556, the mobile
device may acquire (i.e., connect to) an appropriate radio access system,
radio
frequency carrier, system and/or network.
[0113] In block 558, the mobile device may compute its current location (e.g.,
via GPS and/or the location determination solutions discussed above), store
the
computations in a memory, and report its current location to the network. In
block 560, the mobile device may group with other mobile devices in response
to
34
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
receiving instructions/commands from a network component and/or in response
to detecting that the other mobile devices are within a predefined proximity
to the
mobile device (i.e., within a threshold distance). In block 562, the mobile
device
may share its current location information, as well as information collected
from
sensors, with the grouped mobile devices. In block 564, the mobile device may
receive location and/or sensor information from the grouped mobile devices.
The
sensor information may include x, y, z coordinate information and velocity
information.
[0114] In block 566, the mobile device may identify the relative positions of
the
other mobile devices, which may be achieve by evaluating the location and
sensor information received from the other mobile devices and/or via any or
all
of the location determination solutions discussed herein. In block 568, the
mobile device may send the relative location information, its current location
information, and/or sensor information to a network component and/or the other
mobile devices, which may receive the sensor and location information and
compute updated location information (e.g., based on distance in time delay
and
angle of arrival, relative altitude information, etc.). In block 570, the
mobile
device may receive updated location information from the network component
and/or the other grouped mobile devices. In block 572, the mobile device may
update its current location calculation and/or information based on the
information received from the network component and/or the other grouped
mobile devices. The operations of blocks 562-572 may be repeated until the
desired level of precision is achieved for the location information.
[0115] FIGs. 6A-6D illustrate functional components, communication links,
and information flows in an embodiment method for computing location
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
information in which the grouped/paired mobile devices 102, 502 are updated
with their respective location information.
[0116] FIG. 6A illustrates that the mobile device 102 may communicate with a
serving eNodeB 404 to relay its location information to the network 510 and/or
to receive location information from the network 510.
[0117] FIG. 6B illustrates that another mobile device 502 may also
communicate with the serving eNodeB 404 to relay its location information to
the network 510 and/or to receive location information from the network 510.
[0118] FIG. 6C illustrates that the grouped/paired mobile devices 102, 502 may
communicate with each other to determine the distance between each other,
which may be achieved by the mobile devices 102, 502 communicating various
types of information, such as time-of-arrival, relative position with angle-of-
arrival measurements, and other similar values, measurements, or computations.
The mobile devices 102, 502 may then re-compute, refine, and/or update their
current location calculations and/or location information based on information
received from the other mobile devices 102, 502.
[0119] FIG. 6D illustrates that the grouped/paired mobile devices 102 and 502
may send their self-aware location information and/or relative location
information to the network 510 (via the serving eNodeB 404), and receive
updated location information from the network 510. For example, the mobile
devices 102 and 502 may send their present location coordinates, distances
between mobile device (e.g., distance to each other), altitude, and bearings
(e.g.,
where mobile device 102 is with respect to mobile device 502) to the network
220. The network may compute updated location information based on the
received information (e.g., coordinates, sensor information, proximity
36
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
information, etc.), and send the updated location information to the mobile
devices 102, 502. The mobile devices 102, 502 may then re-compute, refine,
and/or update their current location calculations and/or location information
based on information received from the network.
[0120] The operations discussed above with respect to FIGs. 6A-6D may be
repeated so that the mobile devices 102, 502 recursively, continuously, and/or
periodically re-compute, refine, and/or update their current location
calculations
and/or location information based on updated information received from the
other mobile devices and/or the network 510 until the desired level of
precision is
achieved for the location information.
101211 FIG. 6E illustrates an embodiment system method 650 of determining
the location of two or more grouped mobile devices. In block 652, a first
mobile
device may send and/or receive current location information to and from a
network component. In block 654, a second mobile device may send and/or
receive current location information to and from a network component. In block
656, the first and second mobile devices may communicate with each other to
determine the relative distances between each other, which may be achieved by
communicating various types of information, including time-of-arrival,
relative
position with angle-of-arrival measurements, velocity, altitude, etc.
[0122] In block 658, the first and/or second mobile devices may re-compute,
refine, and/or update their current location calculations and/or location
information based on information received from the other mobile devices and/or
the network. In block 660, the first and/or second mobile devices may send
their
updated current location calculations and/or location information to the
network
component, which may receive the calculations/information and compute
37
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
updated location information (e.g., based on distance in time delay and angle
of
arrival, relative altitude information, etc.). In block 662, the first and/or
second
mobile devices may receive updated location information from the network. The
operations in blocks 658-662 may be repeated until the desired level of
precision
is achieved for the location information.
[0123] It should be understood that the methods and operations discussed above
with reference to FIGs. 5A-5D and 6A-6F may also be performed such that they
include more than two devices. For example, in an embodiment, the mobile
devices may be grouped into units of four (4) such that each mobile device may
triangulate its position relative to the other mobile devices in the same
group.
101241 In an embodiment, a mobile device 102 and/or a network component
may store relative location information for all the mobile devices within each
group, based on the type of grouping. For example, a network component may
store relative location information for all the mobile devices grouped/paired
by
an incident command system (ICS) commander. Likewise, the network
component may store relative location information for all the mobile devices
grouped/paired based on their proximity to each another.
[0125] In an embodiment, the mobile device 102 may be configured to detect a
low battery condition, and initiate operations to conserve battery. For
example, a
mobile device 102 may be configured to turn off its radio and/or terminate or
reduce its participation in the group/pairing information exchange. As another
example, a mobile device 102 may be flagged or identified as having a low
battery condition, and the other grouped/paired mobiles devices may be
informed
of the low battery situation so that update intervals may be adjusted to
reduce
battery consumption.
38
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0126] FIG. 6F illustrates an embodiment method 670 of adjusting the update
intervals in a mobile device in response to detecting a low battery condition.
In
block 672, the mobile device may detect/determine that the amount of power
remaining in the mobile device battery is below a predetermined threshold. In
block 674, the mobile device may transmit a signal or otherwise inform grouped
mobile devices of the detected low battery condition. In block 676, may
initiate
operations to converse power, such as by turn off its radio and/or reducing
its
participation in exchanging information with grouped mobile devices. In block
678, the mobile device and/or the informed grouped mobile devices may adjust
the update intervals with respect to the mobile device to reduce the load on
the
mobile device.
[0127] As discussed above, grouped mobile devices may share various types of
information to improve the accuracy of the location determination
calculations.
For the information shared between grouped/paired mobile devices, a comparison
may be made for the path, range, between the mobile devices using any or all
of
the information available to the mobile devices (e.g., location coordinates,
sensor
information, proximity information, etc.). If the two mobile devices report
relative positional information that is within a user or network defined range
tolerance as being acceptable this is information may be forwarded to the
network. If the relative positional information is not within the user or
network
defined range tolerance, additional polling operations may be performed to
improve the accuracy of the measurements or location information. The above
mentioned operations may be repeated until the desired level of accuracy is
achieved. In an embodiment, the number of times the above-mentioned
operations are repeated may determined based on a user-definable values which
can be set by the network, user or algorithm used.
39
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0128] As mentioned above, a mobile device 102 may include two or more of
the same type of sensor. In the embodiments in which the mobile device 102
includes more than one of the same type of sensor (e.g., includes two
accelerometers), one of the sensors (e.g., one the two accelerometers) may be
identified as a master sensor. The values measures by each sensor may be
compared, and if the difference between the values falls within a tolerance
range,
the values measured by the master sensor may be used to compute the sensor
parameters (e.g., x, y, z, and velocity parameters). If the difference between
the
values falls outside a tolerance range, the mobile device may use information
collected from other sensors (of the same or different types) to determine if
the
values measured by the master sensor are consistent with expected values. For
example, the mobile device may use information collected from various other
types of sensors to compute sensor parameters (e.g., x, y, z, and velocity
parameters), and compare the computed sensor parameters to similar sensor
parameters computed based on the values measured on the master sensor to
determine if the master sensor is functioning correctly. Values measured on
the
master sensor may also be compared to information stored in the network or
other mobile devices to determine if the master sensor is functioning
correctly. If
it is determined that the master sensor is not functioning correctly, a
secondary
sensor may be designated as the master sensor. The previous master sensor may
be demoted to standby status (i.e., for use if the primary sensor has a
failure) and
not used for immediate positional calculations.
[0129] As mobile devices move into an area, the mobile devices may be asked
to group/pair with more devices. The number of devices that a mobile device
can
group/pair with may be restricted by user configuration, through the system,
and/or user intervention so as to conserve battery and computational efforts
(e.g.,
when the mobile device detects a low battery condition).
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0130] In an embodiment, proximity grouping may be used in the x, y, and z
coordinates/fields and/or for velocity information.
[0131] In the event that a mobile device is unable to group with another
mobile
device with which it is instructed to group/pair with (e.g., due to a RF path
problems), the mobile device may group with yet another mobile device in an ad-
hoc fashion. If no mobile device is pairable with the mobile device, it may
rely
on its own geographic and/or and sensor information to report to the network.
[0132] When a mobile device 102 is undetected as being within a given
proximity of a grouping radius, other mobile devices in the same group as the
mobile device 102 may be informed of the decision to degroup/depair them from
the mobile device 102. In an embodiment, the system may be configured so that
an approval from the incident commander or user is required before the mobile
is
degrouped/depaired. In an embodiment, this may be achieved may transmitting a
signal to a mobile device of the incident commander or user requesting
approval,
to which the incident commander or user may send a reply approving or
disapproving of the request to degroup/depair. In an embodiment, the
degrouping/depairing process may be transparent to the mobile device users.
[0133] In the event that a mobile device is unable to communicate with the
network, the mobile device may send telemetry information pertaining to
location services (and other telemetry information) to a grouped mobile device
for relaying to the network.
[0134] In an embodiment, polling for information may be performed once the
network has lost communication with the mobile device. Mobile devices that
and known to be grouped to the mobile device may be instructed to communicate
with the disconnected mobile even when it is trying to reacquire the network.
A
41
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
logical sequence based on proximity, signal quality to the network, and/or
battery
strength may be used to determine which mobile device will be used as a relay
for communicating with the network.
[0135] The relayed telemetry information may include more than just positional
information. For example, the telemetry information may also include bio
sensor
and user bio information reporting on the environment and user conditions,
including heart rate and temperature, CO, 02 and other sensor information.
[0136] In an embodiment, the network may continuously measure/monitor the
connected mobile devices. Knowing their location and relative location to each
of the other mobile devices enables the network to continuously measure the
uplink and downlink communication paths. If communication path degradation
occurs and begins to fall within a defined system quality range (which may be
user defined), a mobile device may be instructed to either handover to another
radio access node for the same network and/or network technology, or be
instructed to initiate to perform relay operations to relay communications
though
a defined mobile device as a secondary signal path.
[0137] In the event that a communication link is lost with the network the
mobile device may attempt to acquire itself on another network. While the
acquisition process is underway, a mobile device may act as a mesh device.
Other mobile devices in the proximity group may also connect as a mesh
network.
[0138] In an embodiment, the mobile devices may utilize dead reckoning (also
called deducted reckoning) techniques to compute updated location information.
Mobile devices may store the updated information for eventual relay to another
mobile device which has network access or until one of the mobile devices or
42
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
both devices have access to the initial network or another network and granted
access to whether it is public or a private network.
[0139] FIG. 7 illustrates normal operating conditions in which a mobile device
102 will periodically scan for other cells 704, including its serving cell
903. If
the radio access points are part of the network then the mobile device will
report
the identity and signaling information required by the existing network to
determine (e.g., via triangulating and/or trilateration) the mobile device's
location
based on a network approach. If the mobile device detects a radio access point
is
not part of its preferred cell selection process, it may attempt to read the
coordinates and positional information from the access point that is
broadcast.
[0140] Once synched with the access point the mobile device may determine
the timing difference and other requisite information to help determine its
relative location and distance from the access point. This information may be
related to the location system used by the mobile device to help refine its
current
location calculations.
[0141] Additionally the mobile device may be configured to compare each cell
read to its own coordinate and using bearing and time difference for all the
cells
it reads. The mobile device may then triangulate on its own position.
[0142] During a 911 call a software application on the distressed mobile
device
may be executed. The software application may access an active neighbor list,
read the overhead of each cell, and use that information to triangulate on the
mobile device's own position. The mobile device may also read the time offset
for each of the cells.
43
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0143] In this case the system begins to try and locate the distressed
mobile's
position with more precision an accuracy to assist First Responders with
triangulating on the distressed mobile's position and sending the information
to
the incident commander and/or public service answering point (PSAP) with a
relative distance to target indication that is updated on pre-defined
intervals. If
the mobile device has lost contact with the 911 center, PSAP then the last
location is continuously displayed and any velocity information is also
relayed to
assist the first responders.
[0144] In an emergency, the mobile device 102 may be configured to send its
location information to the network. The mobile device 102 may be configured
to automatically send its location information in response to detecting the
emergency, or may provide the user with an option to send the location
information. In an embodiment, the mobile device 102 may be configured to
send its location information in response to a network initiated command.
[0145] Each mobile device may become an access point (AP). The decision to
be the access point may be periodically updated while still in communication
with the network, or when no network is found. Upon powering up, each mobile
device may act as a client, and on a pseudo random time interval, the mobile
devices may become an access point and then a client.
[0146] The location based methodology may be the same for a frequency-
division duplexing (FDD) and a time-division duplexing (TDD) system.
However in the event that the communication link between the mobile device and
the network is lost, the mobile device may be configured to relay its
telemetry
information through another mobile device having network access.
44
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0147] In an embodiment, all information sent via wireless communication
links may be digital. In an embodiment, the information may be encrypted to a
requisite advanced encryption standard (AES) standards level or the
appropriate
encryption level needed for the requisite communication system and access
method used.
[0148] Generally, the location based systems (LBS) may utilize reactive or
proactive based methods. In a reactive location based system, the mobile
devices
may synchronously interact with each other on a time basis or some other
predetermined update method. In a proactive location based system, the mobile
devices may update their location information based on a set of predetermined
event conditions using an algorithm. The various embodiments may include both
reactive and proactive aspects, taking the best of both approaches to enhance
location accuracy and precision.
[0149] Various embodiments may include location determination solutions that
utilize horizontal data (i.e., a set of reference points on the Earth's
surface against
which position measurements are made) and/or vertical data. Horizontal data
define the origin and orientation of the coordinate system and are
prerequisites
for referring a position relative to the Earth's surface. Vertical data are
based on
geoids, which primarily serves as a basis to determine the height of a
position
relative to mean sea level for which the geoids act as a benchmark for origin
and
orientation. Various embodiments may utilize horizontal and vertical data to
provide/generate enhanced three dimensional location information. The
horizontal and vertical data can be global, national, local or custom
depending on
the locality and positioning reference system utilized.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0150] Traditionally global data are used for position/location as compared to
a
local datum. Global data are used for initial position fixing if possible and
are
based on GPS coordinates. Local data are based on a particular position on the
surface of the earth, which allows for a non GPS based location based services
to
take place. The various embodiments may use global data, local data, or both.
In
an embodiment, GPS may be used to help identify the initial positional fix,
and
may be augmented by dead reckoning and a hybrid trilateration solution that
utilizes both network and terminal based positioning. In this embodiment, both
local and global data may be used.
[0151] Generally, a hybrid lateration and trilateration solution includes a
mobile
device performing a measurement and sending it to the network, and a network
component performing the location determination calculations. The various
embodiments include a hybrid lateration and trilateration solution in which
the
mobile device performs the location determination calculations, with and
without
the support of the network components.
[0152] Various embodiments may include sensor fusion operations in which a
collaborative approach is used so that the sensors do not act as individual
sensors,
but as a collective team. As discussed above, the mobile device may include
various sensors (e.g., accelerometer, gyros, magnetic compass, altimeters,
odometers, etc.) capable of generating heading, orientation, distance
traveled, and
velocity as part of the sensor information collected on the mobile device. In
various embodiments, information collected from any or all the internal
sensors
may be used for improving location or positioning accuracy and/or confidence
improvements. Various embodiments may compute location information based
on information from multiple sensors, with or without the aid of radio
frequency
propagation information.
46
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0153] The sensor fusion operations may include the sharing of telemetry
including sensor data indicating relative movement of the individual mobile
device, which enables temporal readings to assist in the location estimate,
either
with external assistance or dead reckoning.
[0154] FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment mobile device method 800 for
determining the location of a mobile device in a wireless network. In block
802,
a mobile device may determine its current location using any of the above
mentioned location determination solutions. In block 804, the mobile device
may share its location information with other grouped mobile devices and/or
receive location information from other grouped mobile devices. In block 806,
the mobile device may compute and send updated distance vector and sensor
information to a network component for improved positional fix. In block 808,
the mobile device may receive updated location information from the network
component, and perform its own positional fix based on mobile data information
received from the network. In block 810, the mobile device may update its
location information and/or confirm its location information using dead
reckoning to enhance positional accuracy.
[0155] Dead reckoning may provide the needed positional corrections as a local
datum method for positioning when GPS or other network related positioning
solutions are not available. Additionally dead reckoning may enhance the
location position accuracy and precision calculations by providing additional
horizontal and vertical datum comparisons.
[0156] With dead reckoning, the current position may be deduced (or
extrapolated) from the last known position. The dead reckoning accuracy
47
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
requires a known starting point which either can be provided by the network,
GPS, near field communication link, RF beacon, or via another mobile device.
[0157] A dead reckoning system may be dependent upon the accuracy of
measured distance and heading, and the accuracy of the known origin. However
the problem with relying on dead reckoning alone to assist in positional
improvement is error accumulation caused by sensor drift (i.e., differences or
errors in values computed/collected from one or more sensors). In particular,
magnetic, accelerometers and gyroscopes are susceptible to sensor drift. The
error accumulation for any of the sensors may increase over undulating
terrain, as
compared to flat terrain. Bias error and step size error are leading
contributors to
dead reckoning errors.
101581 Various embodiments may tightly couple the mobile device sensors and
continuously recalibrate the sensors to reduce any drift problems caused by
unaided dead reckoning. Additionally, as part of the tightly coupling the
sensors,
any bias drift associated with the sensors (e.g., a gyroscope) may be address
by
utilizing a kalman filter to reduce the errors from the primary and/or
secondary
sensors (e.g., gyroscopes).
[0159] In various embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to include
velocity computations as part of the location determination computations to
account for position changes that occur. When a GPS signal is available, the
step
size (via velocity computation) and compass bias errors may be estimated by an
enhanced kalman filter (EKF). Additionally if GPS is available, the compass
may also be able to identify slow motion changes due to changes in magnetic
inclination. The compass may be relied upon for motion computations in
48
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
addition to that of accelerometers and gyroscopes, with and without the
availability of GPS.
[0160] Dead reckoning accuracy degrades with time, requiring regular position
updates or positional corrections. Therefore, the mobile device may be
configured to not only use its own internal sensors to compute the
location/positional information, but may also communicate with other mobile
devices to leverage their location/positional information to enhance its own
location/positional information. In essence, the mobile devices may act as RF
base stations, providing the lateration capability to improve the positional
accuracy of other mobile devices.
[0161] In an embodiment, a mobile device may be configured to poll one or
more other mobile devices to gain a better positional fix on its location.
[0162] Mobile devices may be grouped together, either through assignment by
the network or through the mobile device acquiring/detecting/connecting to
other
mobile devices (which may or may not be in the same network) as part of a
discovery method for sharing location information.
[0163] Location information may be shared via the use of a near field
communications system (e.g., Bluetooth , ultrawideband, peanut radios, etc.),
infrared, ultrasonic, and other similar technologies, such as via the use of
WiFi.
The wireless communications may also be ad hoc or infrastructure based, or
based on a TDD system, such as LTE, SD-CDMA, TD-CDMA, or any other
TDD methods.
49
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0164] In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to initiate the
sharing of location/position information in response to receiving a network-
driven grouping request from a network component.
[0165] In an embodiment, when the mobile device has lost contact with the
network, it may attempt to find a suitable mobile device to help in its
location
determination computations, and for possible connection to the network (e.g.,
via
a relay).
[0166] In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to send a
request for location information to another mobile device. The request may be
sent after the authentication process between mobile devices, and may include
a
time stamp which may be sub-seconds in size (milliseconds). Another mobile
device may respond with a message that also has its time stamp and when it
received the time stamp from the initiating mobile device.
[0167] Several messages (e.g., three messages) may be exchanged quickly
between the mobile devices to establish time synchronization and share
location/positional information that includes x, y, and z coordinates and a
velocity component in each message. The time differences along with the x, y,
and z coordinates may be compared with possible pulses or pings to establish
an
estimated distance vector between the devices.
[0168] When the distance vector and the x, y, z coordinates of two mobile
devices are known, a point-to-point fix may be established. This process may
be
repeated for all the mobile devices in a group that has been assigned or
created
by the mobile device itself Having multiple distance vectors from other points
to the mobile will enhance the positioning accuracy.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0169] A mobile device may be configured to report back to the network
location server the distance vectors it has found between different mobiles.
The
other mobile devices also involved with the positioning enhancement may also
report their distance vectors to the network to have their overall position
accuracy
improved as well.
[0170] The positional accuracy is meant to be done in incremental steps and
the
process will continue until no more positional improvements will be
achievable.
The positional accuracy improvement threshold may be operator defined, and
may be stored in a mobile device memory.
[0171] When collecting the distance vectors and other positional information,
if
the error in position is greater than x% for a lower positional confidence
level
then no update may be required. As the mobile device receives other sensor
data
and more than a pre-described distance in any direction or a combined distance
vector than the positional update process begins again. However if the x% of
positional confidence level is less than desired, additional positional
updates may
be made with the mobile devices grouped together in an interactive process to
improve the confidence level of the positional information.
[0172] It is important to note that typical positional location methods that
are
used currently by the network are not necessarily replaced with above-
described
positional lateration. Instead, the hybrid lateration method may be used in
various embodiments to augment the positioning accuracy and confidence for
network based position request due to boundary changes or paging requests or
other position/location triggered events.
[0173] FIGs. 9A-9E illustrate various logical components, information flows
and data suitable for use in various embodiments. FIG. 9A illustrates that
mobile
51
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
devices 901, 902, 903, and 904 are communicating with the wireless network via
multiple cell sites/radio access points/eNodeBs 911. The mobile devices 901,
902, 903, and 904 may compute a relative fix on their initial location using
any
of the location determination solutions discussed above. A first mobile device
901 may be instructed to find and communicate with the other mobile devices
902, 903, and 904, and/or any or all of mobile devices 902, 903, and 904 may
be
instructed to communicate with the first mobile device 901. The mobile devices
901, 902, 903, and 904 may be grouped together (e.g., via one of the grouping
methods discussed above). The network may also designate one of the mobile
devices 901 (e.g., a mobile device having a high position confidence) to be
used
as the reference or beacon for the other mobile devices 902, 903, and 904
within
the group of mobile devices 901, 902, 903, and 904.
[0174] FIG. 9B illustrates that a combination of circular and hyperbolic
trilateration operations may be performed as part of an embodiment location
determination solution. For example, if any of the coordinate data provided by
the sensors and/or mobile devices is in latitude and longitudinal coordinates,
it
may be converted to Cartesian coordinates to facilitate a hybrid lateration
calculation. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9B, the mobile devices 901 has
been designated as reference mobile device, reference number 912 identifies
the
position to be determined/computed (i.e., with a high level of accuracy) with
respect to mobile device 901, reference number 910 identifies a three
dimensional sphere that encompass the mobile device 901, and reference number
914 identifies an area of the three dimensional sphere (with x, y, and z
coordinates) within which the device exists.
[0175] FIG. 9C-9D illustrate that distance vectors may be computed between
the mobile devices 901, 902, 903, and 904 as part of an embodiment location
52
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
determination solution. In FIG. 9C mobile 901 using the hybrid trilateration
method determines is relative position with respect to mobile devices 902,
903,
and 904 respectively. Additionally, reference numbers 915, 909, and 916
identify the relative areas of mobile devices 902, 903, and 904, respectively.
As
part of the hybrid trilateration operations of the embodiment location
determination solution, mobile devices 902, 903, and 904 may locate mobile
device 901, and the mobile device 901 may compute a distance vector between
itself and mobile devices 902, 903, and/or 904. The mobile device 901 may
initiate communications with mobile device 902 (although mobile device 902
could initiate the communication) and exchange time stamps, positional
information, sensor data. The same process may occur with respect to mobile
devices 904 and 903, in which positional and sensor information is exchanged.
101761 As illustrated in FIG. 9D, the mobile devices 902, 903, and 904 may
establish a distance vector between themselves and mobile device 901. The same
process may occur with respect to mobile devices 902, 903, and/or 904, in
which
positional and sensor information is exchanged. Where mobile device 902
undergoes the same process as that done with mobile device 901 as part of the
hybrid trilateration process, mobile device 901 may use mobiles 902, 903, 904
to
enhance it positional information and mobile device 902 may use mobiles 901,
903, and 904 to enhance its positional information, and so forth for all the
mobile
devices that are grouped together.
101771 The three circles or ellipses 909, 915, and 916 illustrated in FIG. 9C
and
the three circles or ellipses 906, 907, and 908 illustrated in FIG. 9D do not
intersect at a given point, but span an area of a particular size depending on
the
range involved.
53
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0178] FIG. 9E illustrates an embodiment hybrid trilateration method in which
the position of mobile device 901 is validated or improved upon. As part of
the
hybrid lateration method, a separate calculation operation may be required for
each x, y, and z coordinates, in addition to accounting for velocity. However,
the
ability to have three mobile devices 902, 903, and 904 locate mobile device
901
may present an error window (or an error area) for each coordinate plane
represented by reference number 930. The error window/area may be a
combination of range errors from the mobile devices 902, 903, and 904.
Contributing to the error window/area is the hybrid range errors illustrated
by
reference numbers 921, 922, and 923, where: reference number 921 is the hybrid
range error associated with mobile device 902; reference number 922 is the
hybrid range error associated with mobile device 903; and reference number 923
is the hybrid range error associated with mobile device 904. Additionally this
process can be done with less or more mobile devices than used in the above
example.
[0179] For each axis (x, y, or z), a similar process occurs where the error
area
930 is a combination of determining the range between the other mobile devices
and mobile device 901. The hyperbolic lateration is a typical calculation
method
used in location based systems and is based on the principal that the range
between two locations is the same. However the range determined for the points
may not be constant since both can be moving toward, away or together at a
similar velocity and trajectory.
[0180] With the hybrid lateration method proposed a corrective distance vector
Ax, Ay, Az is used that can be used to apply to the estimated position.
54
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0181] The three circles or ellipses 909, 915, and 916 illustrated in FIG. 9C
and
the three circles or ellipses 906, 907, and 908 illustrated in FIG. 9D do not
intersect at a given point, but span an area of a particular size depending on
the
range involved. Therefore range is "r" and is denoted by the subscript
representing the distance vector involved. Thus:
r= pi + error
[0182] The pseudo range pi deviated from the actual range in any axis due to
the
inaccuracy in synchronization or propagation in a multipath environment or due
to sensor induced errors. Where the distance vector accounting for change in
direction is:
ri= (Xj-x)2 +(Yry)2 +(Zj-z)2
[0183] Three range calculations are then averaged to determine the distance
vector that is used. If the previous range calculation rj as compared to that
of the
current calculation has an error in excess of a user defined percentage or
variance, then the new measurement is disregarded. Included with the distance
vector validation may be the fusion sensor information where expected position
vector calculated may be included for the confidence interval.
Range difference = dij = rj - rj
[0184] An iterative process may be used for position improvement, which may
include the use of a least squares calculation fit to approximate the position
solution in a step wise basis. The process may continue until the range
difference
measured does not produce any noticeable accuracy improvement, which may be
user-defined, either at the mobile device or network or both.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0185] The multi-lateration calculations may include estimating a location of
a
mobile device based upon estimated distances to three or more measurement
locations (i.e., locations of three other mobile devices or wireless
transceivers).
In these calculations, the estimated distance from a measurement location
(location of another mobile device) to the mobile device may be derived from
the
measured signal strength. Since signal strength roughly decreases as the
inverse
square of the separation distance, and the transmission power of the mobile
device can be presumed, the distance d, can be simply calculated as:
di= \i(S0 / Sit)
where:
d, is the estimated separation distance between a measurement location
and the mobile device;
Si is the measured signal strength; and
So is the strength of the signal transmitted by the other mobile device.
[0186] Alternatively, the signal strength readings may be translated into
distances using a path loss model, such as the following:
RSSIi = a ¨ cblogio(di)
where:
a is the signal strength at d, = 1 meter;
b is the path loss exponent; and
c is the pathloss slope with 20 being used for free space.
[0187] The lateration operations may include performing a least squares
computation, which may accomplished by a processor calculating the following
formula:
56
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242
PCT/US2016/013235
min I(di
(x,y) ¨
IIMSi- (x,Y)ii)2
where:
d, is the distance calculated based on a measured signal strength value;
MS, corresponds to the known location/position of the mobile device; and
the minimization value of (x, y) is the estimated position of other mobile
devices.
101881 FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment hybrid lateration method 1000 in
which mobile devices may gain access to the network. The mobile devices may
be instructed to be grouped by the network. Mobile devices 901 and 902 may
initiate sharing of information for position/location, either due to the
network
driven grouping request or when the mobile device has lost contact with the
network and attempts to find a suitable mobile device to help in its
position/location and possible connection to the network via a relay or to
another
network.
[0189] Mobile device 901 may send a request for position information to
mobile device 902. The information may be sent after the authentication
process
between mobile devices, and may include a time stamp. The time stamp may be
sub seconds in size (e.g., milliseconds). The mobile device 902 may respond
with a message that also has a time stamp, and timing information pertaining
to
when the mobile device 902 received the time stamp from mobile device 901.
Three messages may be transferred quickly to establish time synchronization.
The time differences may then be compared, along with possible pulses or
pings,
to establish an estimated distance vector between the mobile devices. Knowing
the distance vector and the x, y, and z coordinates of both 901 and 902, a
point-
to-point fix may be established.
57
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0190] The mobile device 901 may then initiate communication with mobile
devices 903, 904 and repeat the operations discussed above with respect to
mobile device 902 for each of mobile device 903, 904. After obtaining two or
more distance vectors along with positional information, the mobile device 901
may compare the new coordinates to its previously computed current location,
and adjust the location computations accordingly.
[0191] The positional information distance vectors may be sent to the network
for positional processing with other network positional information. Based on
the position calculated for the mobile device, the network (i.e., a component
in
the network, such as a network server or E-SMLC) may instruct the mobile
device to adjust its positional information.
101921 Additionally the mobile device 901 may also make a positional
correction if the network either does not respond in time, which may result in
a
message update time out. Alternatively, when the network cannot make the
necessary correction, and the positional information may be used by another
component and/or other mobile devices to perform the necessary corrections.
[0193] If the error is greater than x% for a lower positional confidence level
then no update is required. As the mobile receives other sensor data and more
than a pre-described distance in any direction or a combined distance vector
than
the positional update process begins again. If the x% of positional confidence
level is less than desired, additional positional updates may be made with the
grouped mobile devices (e.g., iteratively) to improve the confidence level of
the
positional information. Additionally if the positional information from one of
the
mobile devices that is being attempted to obtain a distance vector appears to
be in
error, then that mobile devices data may be selected to not be used for this
58
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
iterative step of performing positional updates with other grouped mobile
devices. However it will continue to be queried as part of the process since
its
position/location could be corrected in one of the steps it is taking to
improve its
position/location as well.
[0194] Additionally, in the event that one or more mobile devices lose
communication with the core network it will still be possible to maintain
position
accuracy through one of the other grouped mobile devices. It will also be
possible to continue to maintain a communication link by establishing a
network
relay connection with another of the mobile devices in the same group which
still
has communication with the network itself
[0195] FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment hybrid lateration method in
which a mobile device cannot locate a network due to coverage problems. The
mobile device 901 may operate in an autonomous mode and attempt to locate
another mobile device. The other mobile device could be used to relay
information to the network and possibly set up a near field communication
bridge
in addition to providing location enhancement capability.
[0196] In the example illustrated in FIG. 11, mobile device 901 establishes a
near field LAN inviting other mobile devices in proximity to communicate with
it. Positional information can then be shared and the mobile device 901 can
have
its location improved and the positional information can be relayed back to
the
core network via another mobile device.
101971 The mobile device 901 may also communicate its positional information
and establish near field communication link with a mobile device that is not
part
of the home network associated with mobile device 901.
59
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0198] The mobile devices may have the USIM, SIM, PRL or access point
information pre-built in. The mobile device for first responders may have the
incident radio system set as their preferred system, or in the case that the
radio
access system being used as a public safety network.
[0199] For first responders to utilize a wireless mobile network (e.g., LTE)
the
position/location information accuracy needs to improved for in building
environments in addition to providing more accurate location information about
where the mobile devices are actually located. Whether the mobile device is
used by a first responder, commercial cellular user, or a combination of both.
[0200] The positional location improvement for first responders may be helpful
to improve situation awareness, improved telemetry and overall communication
with the incident commander. Since all incidents for first responders tend to
be
fluid the ability to account for a dynamic environment of mobile devices
coming
into and out of the incident area. In addition the mobile devices proximity
location to other mobile devices can and will change as the incident situation
changes where resources are added and/or reassigned as the need arises for
operational requirements.
[0201] The use of network and terminal driven position enhancement
techniques previously discussed may be exploited. The grouping of mobile
devices may be done either as part of pre-plan, with intervention by the
incident
commander or driven from the commercial wireless network, public safety
wireless network, or local incident communication system (ICS) 1204 based on
reported proximity of the mobile devices.
[0202] FIG. 12A illustrates that upon arriving at the incident scene, a mobile
device 102 may recognize the existence of a local radio network 1202. If there
is
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
no ICS radio network 1204 with which the mobile device may connect, the
mobile device 102 will continue to communicate via a commercial or other
wireless network, 1202.
[0203] FIG. 12B illustrates that the mobile device 102 may determine that
there
is a valid local radio system 1202 with which it may communicate, and may have
a priority access to small cell system 1204 based on a preferred network and
cell
selection process the mobile device 102 has been instructed to use.
[0204] FIG. 12C illustrates that the mobile device 102 may transfer the
connection from the local radio system 1202 to the small cell system 1204.
[0205] For first responders when a situation arises that requires finding a
man
down or responding to an emergency call (911) the location based process can
be
used to help in the search and rescue of the person.
[0206] FIG. 13A illustrates that the mobile device 102 may be identified by
the
network as being in distress via network monitoring of the mobile device 102
or
via the mobile device transmitting a distress signal. The distressed mobile
device
102 may determine that it has lost communication with the network, and may
instruct the wearer/user to either disable or initiate a distress signal. The
mobile
device 102, upon initiation of a distress signal, may begin a grouping process
previously defined.
[0207] FIG. 13B illustrates that the network 510 to which the serving eNodeB
404 is connected to may instruct a mobile device 1302 in the same group as the
distressed mobile device 102 to report the last known location of the mobile
device 102 and time stamp.
61
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0208] FIG. 13C illustrates that the network 510 may instruct additional
mobiles devices 1304 to attempt to group with the distressed mobile device
102.
[0209] FIG. 14 illustrates that when the mobile device 102 is unable to
communicate with the network 510, it may be operating under a dead reckoning
process and continue to attempt to locate other mobile devices 1402, 1404 and
group with them under an ad-hoc scheme.
[0210] Once the mobile device has been grouped, or is still connected to the
network, the relative location of the mobile device will be sent to all the
mobile
devices that are in active search for that mobile device. The selection of
which
mobile devices will be searched may be determined by operator intervention and
selection.
[0211] FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment enhanced antenna scheme 1500 that
may be used by wireless network operators or first responders to improve the
positional accuracy for the mobile device. The enhanced antenna scheme 1500
may include a radome 1515 that is curved over a series of patch antennas 1520.
Several antennas 1520 may be used achieve better angle of arrival measurement.
In an embodiment, the enhanced antenna scheme 1500 may include an array of
antennas 1520 on flexible circuit boards so they can conform to the radome
1515.
[0212] FIG. 16A-B illustrate that the above mentioned enhanced antenna
scheme 1500 may be implemented on a vehicle 1602. Specifically, FIG. 16A
illustrates an enhanced antenna scheme 1500 that includes two antennas 1602
for
this purpose. FIG. 16B illustrates an enhanced antenna scheme 1500 that
includes four antennas 1602 for this purpose. Each antenna 1602 may include an
array of antennas 1520 on flexible circuit boards so they can conform to the
radome 1515.
62
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0213] FIG. 17A-B illustrate strips of antenna patches that may be used in
various embodiments. FIG. 17A illustrates two strips of antenna patches 1520
and 1521 next to each other in an antenna array (which may be on a flexible
circuit board so they conform to a radome). FIG. 17B is an illustration of a
cross
sectional view of the radome 1515 in which the antenna patches 1520 and 1521
of the antenna array are shown layered. The antenna patch 1520 is closer to
the
outer radome cover 1515 than is antenna array 1521. A fiber glass or a
transparent RF medium 1522 may provide rigidity and enable the antennas to be
closely spaced. The antenna array may be cone shaped using a flexible circuit
design (for receive only configurations). Envelope detectors may be used to
determine which of the antenna patches are receiving the highest quality
signal
from the mobile device using an amplitude method for detection.
[0214] In an embodiment, the detection and tracking of a mobile device may be
controlled so that the measurements are in-sync with an eNodeB pulse request
to
the mobile device for positional information.
102151 FIG. 18 illustrates an antenna array (1520 or 1521) in which the
antenna
system is connected to the normal antenna port on a receiver (e.g., eNodeB)
1525. Each of the patch antennas may be matched to a 10 db coupler 1527 and
configured to provide a port coupling to a receive patch detector 1530. The
receive patch detector 1530 may be configured to determine which patch antenna
has the strongest signal, and based on the number of patch antennas and the
distance calculation, another altitude measurement may be made by the mobile
device.
63
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242
PCT/US2016/013235
[0216] In an embodiment, the antenna array system may not be connected to the
eNodeB receiver 1525 and control coordination may be provided by the E-SMLC
for synchronization of the received signal from the mobile device.
102171 FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment antenna array 1523 retrofitted into
an
existing cellular wireless network. The array 1523 may be installed in
parallel to
an existing antenna 1524. A control mechanism that is the same as or similar
to
the control mechanism illustrated in FIG. 18 may be used for the commercial
applications.
[0218] The various embodiments may be implemented on a variety of mobile
computing devices, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 20.
Specifically,
FIG. 20 is a system block diagram of a mobile transceiver device in the form
of a
smal ________________________________________________________________
tphone/cell phone 2000 suitable for use with any of the embodiments. The
cell phone 2000 may include a processor 2001 coupled to internal memory 2002,
a display 2003, and to a speaker 2054. Additionally, the cell phone 2000 may
include an antenna 2004 for sending and receiving electromagnetic radiation
that
may be connected to a wireless data link and/or cellular telephone transceiver
2005 coupled to the processor 2001. Cell phones 2000 typically also include
menu selection buttons or rocker switches 2008 for receiving user inputs.
[0219] A typical cell phone 2000 also includes a sound encoding/decoding
(CODEC) circuit 2024 which digitizes sound received from a microphone into
data packets suitable for wireless transmission and decodes received sound
data
packets to generate analog signals that are provided to the speaker 2054 to
generate sound. Also, one or more of the processor 2001, wireless transceiver
2005 and CODEC 2024 may include a digital signal processor (DSP) circuit (not
shown separately). The cell phone 2000 may further include a peanut or a
64
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
ZigBee transceiver (i.e., an IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver) 2013 for low-power
short-range communications between wireless devices, or other similar
communication circuitry (e.g., circuitry implementing the Bluetooth or WiFi
protocols, etc.).
[0220] Various embodiments may be implemented on any of a variety of
commercially available server devices, such as the server 2100 illustrated in
FIG.
21. Such a server 2100 typically includes one or more processors 2101, 2102
coupled to volatile memory 2103 and a large capacity nonvolatile memory, such
as a disk drive 2104. The server 2100 may also include a floppy disc drive,
compact disc (CD) or DVD disc drive 2106 coupled to the processor 2101. The
server 2100 may also include network access ports 2106 coupled to the
processor
2101 for establishing data connections with a network 2105, such as a local
area
network coupled to other communication system computers and servers.
[0221] The processors 2001, 2101, and 2102 may be any programmable
microprocessor, microcomputer, or multiple processor chip or chips that can be
configured by software instructions (applications) to perform a variety of
functions, including the functions of the various embodiments described below.
In some mobile devices, multicore processors 2102 may be provided, such as one
processor core dedicated to wireless communication functions and one processor
core dedicated to running other applications. Typically, software applications
may be stored in the internal memory 2002, 2103, and 2104 before they are
accessed and loaded into the processor 2001, 2101, and 2102. The processor
2001, 2101, and 2102 may include internal memory sufficient to store the
application software instructions.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0222] The wireless (or mobile) device location determination techniques
described herein may be implemented in conjunction with various wireless
communication networks such as a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a
wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN),
and so on. The term "network" and "system" are often used interchangeably. A
WWAN may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a
Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, a Time Division
Multiple Access (TDMA) network, an OFDMA network, a 3GPP LTE network,
a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and so on. A CDMA network may implement
one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as CDMA2000, Wideband-
CDMA (W-CDMA), and so on. CDMA2000 includes IS-95, IS-2000, and IS-856
standards. W-CDMA is described in documents from a consortium named "3rd
Generation Partnership Project" (3GPP). CDMA2000 is described in documents
from a consortium named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP
and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A WLAN may be an IEEE 802.11x
network, and a WPAN may be a Bluetooth network, an IEEE 802.15x, or some
other type of network. The techniques may also be implemented in conjunction
with any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and/or WPAN.
[0223] Various embodiments may include enhancements to the current location
based service methods and methodologies used for wireless mobile
communications, and include improved methods for determining the location of a
mobile or wireless device (e.g., mobile device 102).
[0224] Commercial and public safety positioning applications are growing in
popularity and use, as are other similar services and applications that are
based
on, or which utilize, precise, accurate, and detailed location information. As
a
result, it is becoming increasingly important for modern wireless/mobile
devices
66
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
to be able to accurately determine their locations within a wireless network.
The
various embodiments include mobile devices that are configured to accurately
determine their locations within a wireless network to a high degree of
confidence/precision.
[0225] Public Safety systems are now embarking on the use of commercial
cellular technologies, such as the third generation partnership project (3GPP)
long-term evolution (LTE), as their communication protocol(s) of choice. As a
result, there is a need for improved situation awareness at the site of an
incident
(e.g., for first responders, mobile device users, etc.). The various
embodiments
include mobile devices that may be used by first responders for improved
situation awareness at the site of an incident. In some embodiments, this may
be
accomplished by configuring a mobile device to determine its location with a
high degree of accuracy and precision.
[0226] Under the correct conditions, existing geo-spatial positioning systems,
such as GPS systems, provide a good estimate for a mobile device's location.
However in many other cases (e.g., in buildings and urban environments) these
geo-spatial positioning systems are not available and/or do not generate
sufficiently accurate location information. For example, a GPS system may not
be able to acquire satellite signals and/or sufficient navigation data to
calculate its
geospatial location (called "performing a fix") when the device is indoors,
below
grade, or when the satellites are obstructed (e.g., by tall buildings, etc.).
In
addition, the presence of physical obstacles, such as metal beams or walls,
may
cause multipath interference and signal degradation of the wireless
communication signals when the mobile device is indoors (or in urban
environments that include tall buildings, skyscrapers, etc.). These and other
factors often cause existing geo-spatial technologies to function inaccurately
67
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
and/or inconsistently on mobile devices, and hinder the mobile device user's
ability to fully utilize location-aware mobile software applications and/or
other
location based services and applications.
[0227] Similarly, network based solutions for determining the location of
mobile device may also not be adequate for locating a mobile device within
buildings and/or in urban environments. The introduction of new wireless
network systems, such as LTE, has presented some new opportunities and
capabilities (e.g., network based solutions). However, despite these
advancements, existing solutions are often unable to generate location
information with a sufficiently high level of accuracy, precision or detail
required
to provide enhanced location based services (e.g., applications that improve
situational awareness at the site of an incident, etc.).
[0228] In some cases, wireless network systems, such as LTE, may be used in
conjunction with the public safety band. This combination may allow for
excellent coverage in urban and indoor environments. However, using existing
solutions, the accuracy and precision of the location information is often
limited.
For example, location information that is generated via existing network based
solutions and/or existing wireless network system technologies often does not
include a sufficiently high level of accuracy, precision or detail to provide
enhanced location based services (e.g., applications that improve situational
awareness at the site of an incident, etc.).
[0229] Improving positional location accuracy, confidence and precision in a
mobile device has many advantages, particularly when the device is used for
emergency location services, commercial location services, internal location
services and lawful intercept location services. The various embodiments
68
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
provide the ability to improve the positional location information for both
new
and existing wireless networks, and improve the positional location accuracy,
confidence and precision in a mobile device.
[0230] For commercial applications, a mobile device's ability to generate
highly accurate location information (e.g., eLBS information) within a
multiple
story building, in an urban environment, within a mall, etc. may provide the
system with various network radio resource improvements. In addition, eLBS
information may also allow for unique advertising targeting capabilities.
Moreover, eLBS information may be used for applications related to improved
fleet management, asset tracking and various machine to machine
communications for which highly accurate location/position information is
important. For commercial users, the need for improved position/location
information accuracy is most needed for in-building environments where the
location of the mobile device can be more accurately pin pointed for location
based services. The advantage of law enforcement with improved positional
information will enable the tracking of mobile devices inside a building to
enable
determination of what floor or part of the building the device is being used
is
located without the need for replacing radio beacons or location aware access
points. For emergency services the advantage comes to better positional
location
of the party in need of assistance, especially in an urban environment where
the
positional information is most problematic with existing techniques. For first
responders this enhancement enables mobile devices which are in the same scene
to help augment their position coordinates with each other in a controlled ad-
hoc
environment. The positional information shared not only includes latitude and
longitude but also altitude and velocity. Since this information involves a
small
amount of data the mobile devices can have the E-SMLC in the case of LTE
share the information both on net and off-net.
69
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0231] The use of sensors including accelerometers, gyroscopes,
magnetometers and pressure sensors along with GPS receivers with mobile
devices is becoming more prevalent. Therefore the enhancements for positional
location will give the E-SMLC in the case of LTE the ability to not only
utilize
GPS or Network derived coordinate information but also to have an
augmentation with sensors associated the mobile device which can include
accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometer and pressure sensors for refining and
reducing some of the positional uncertainties that are in inherent to wireless
positional determination.
[0232] For wireless mobile network like LTE,. the position/location
information
accuracy needs to be improved for in building environments in addition to
providing more accurate location information about where the mobile devices
are
actually located. Whether the mobile device is used by a first responder,
commercial cellular user or a combination of both.
[0233] Positional location improvement enables improved situation awareness,
improved telemetry, and improved overall communication with the incident
commander. In addition, the mobile devices proximity location to other mobile
devices can and will change dynamically allowing for resources to be added
and/or reassigned as the need arises for operational requirements.
[0234] As discussed above, the various embodiments include methods, and
mobile computing devices configured to implement the methods, of determining
a location of a mobile device. The methods may include determining an
approximate location of the mobile device, grouping the mobile device with a
wireless transceiver in proximity to the mobile device to form a communication
group, sending the determined approximate location of the mobile device to the
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
wireless transceiver, receiving on the mobile device location information from
the wireless transceiver, and determining a more precise location of the
mobile
device based on the location information received from the wireless
transceiver.
As part of determining its approximate location, the mobile device may
estimate
its position and/or generate a position estimate. It could be beneficial for
these
position estimates to include latitude, longitude and elevation information
that is
accurate to within one (1) meter (and many times within one meter accuracy).
[0235] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be equipped with a
"sensor fusion" system/component. The sensor fusion component may
configured to collect and use information from sensors in the mobile device to
further improve the location position determinations. As such, the sensor
fusion
component may allow the device to better determine its approximate location
and/or to generate a better position estimate (e.g., a more precise value,
more
accurate coordinates, etc.).
[0236] In further embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to receive
(e.g., via an antenna coupled to one or more of its processors, etc.) location
information from a multitude of external devices, and use this information to
better determine its approximate location and/or to generate a better position
estimate (e.g., a more precise value, more accurate coordinates, etc.).
[0237] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to receive
the location information was waypoints. A waypoint may be an information
structure that includes one or more information fields, component vectors,
location information, position information, coordinate information, etc. In
some
embodiments, each waypoint may include coordinate values (e.g., x and y
coordinates, latitude and longitude values, etc.), an altitude value, a time
value, a
71
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
timestamp, ranking values, confidence values, precision values, a range value,
and an information type identifier (e.g., GPS, Loran C, sensor, combined,
etc.).
The coordinate and altitude value may identify the three-dimensional location
of
the corresponding external device. The timestamp may identify the time that
the
location was determined/captured. The range value may identify a distance
between the external device and the mobile device. In some embodiments, a
waypoint may also be, or may include, a location estimate value, a location
set,
or any other similar location information suitable for adequately conveying or
communicating location information.
[0238] In an embodiment, the mobile device may be configured to receive
location information in the form of a first waypoint from a first external
device, a
second waypoint from a second external device, a third waypoint from a third
external device, and a fourth waypoint from a forth external device. The
mobile
device may use any combination of the received waypoints (e.g., first through
fourth waypoints) in conjunction with stored and historical information (e.g.,
previously computed waypoints, movement information, etc.) to determine or
compute its approximate and/or more precise location with a high degree of
accuracy.
[0239] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to perform
advanced location based operations (e.g., advanced sensor fusion operations)
to
generate location information (e.g., a location estimate set/value), use a
differential RMS2 method (or any other method known in the art) compute
confidence values, and compare the computed confidence values to one or more
threshold values to determine whether there is a sufficiently high degree of
confidence in the accuracy of the generated location information (e.g.,
location
estimate set/value). In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured
72
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
to compute a confidence value between 0.0 and 1.0 that identifies a confidence
level in the accuracy of the measurement for each data field in the location
estimation set (e.g., a confidence value for each of the latitude, longitude
and
altitude data fields, etc.). For example, confidence values of 0.90, .95, and
.91
may indicate that the x, y, and z coordinates are accurate within 30 meters
between 90 and 95 percent of the time.
[0240] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to also
compute a precision value that identifies, or which is indicative of, the
repeatability factor of the computation/measurements over multiple
measurements. The precision value may be used to determine how often the
device reports the same position/location (i.e., based on evaluating multiple
reports indicating that the device has not moved more than X meters, etc.),
which
may be used to determine the precision of the measurement (e.g., within 1
meter,
etc.). The precision value may also be used to determine the likelihood that
repeating the computation (e.g., using the same inputs or input sources) will
result in substantially the same values.
[0241] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to perform
normalization operations to normalize/synchronize the timing of the received
location information (the "location information timing"). In some embodiments,
this may be accomplished via a timing component or mechanism (a timer, system
clock, processor cycles, etc.) in the mobile device. The mobile device may use
a
common time value (or common timer, reference clock, etc.) to synchronize
and/or coordinate the information included in the received waypoints. The
mobile device may generate normalized waypoints that include normalized
values and/or which are normalized, synchronized and/or updated to account for
various delays and inconsistencies, including the propagation delay between
the
73
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
mobile device and the corresponding external device, the time difference
between when the waypoint was captured in external device and when the
waypoint received in the mobile device, the relative movements of the devices,
communication pathway time delays, delays associated with processing the
requests, etc.
[0242] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to associate
or assign a time value to each normalized waypoint (e.g., by storing the
waypoint
relative to the time value in a map or table, etc.), and determine whether
each
normalized waypoint is valid. For example, mobile device may determine
whether the time value associated is within a valid duration or whether the
waypoint includes sufficiently accurate information (e.g., by determining
whether a precision or confidence value associated with the waypoint exceeds a
threshold value, etc.). In response to determining that a waypoint is valid,
the
mobile device may determine or compute one or more rankings for that
waypoint, and associate and/or assign the rankings to the waypoint (by storing
it
as a field. In some embodiments, the mobile device may determine and assign an
overall rank and a device-specific rank to each valid waypoint, and store the
waypoints in memory (e.g., in a location database, etc.).
[0243] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to
determine the number of stored waypoints that are suitable for use in
determining
the device's current location. For example, the mobile device may determine
whether the memory stores four or more valid waypoints, whether the stored
waypoints are associated with sufficiently high rankings, whether the stored
waypoints identify four or more independent locations, whether the stored
waypoints identify the locations of four or more external devices relative to
the
current location of the mobile device with a sufficiently high level of
accuracy,
74
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
etc. In response to determining that there are four or more suitable waypoints
stored in memory, the mobile device may intelligently select the four most
suitable waypoints (e.g., waypoints having the highest overall rank and/or
device-specific rank, etc.), apply the selected waypoints as inputs to a
kalman
filter, and use the output of the kalman filter to generate location
information that
identifies the mobile device's current location with a high level of accuracy
(e.g.,
within one meter in all directions, etc.).
[0244] FIG. 22 illustrates an example eLBS method 2200 that may be
performed by a processor in a mobile or wireless computing device to better
determine its location in accordance with an embodiment. In block 2202, the
mobile device may turn on (i.e., power on, etc.) and acquire service from a
wireless service provider (e.g., via operations performed by the mobile device
processor, etc.). In block 2204, the processor/mobile device may obtain an
initial
positional fix, and use this information to generate a waypoint (e.g., a
current
location waypoint) or other location information unit. The mobile device may
obtain the initial positional fix by using GPS, CellID, WiFi ID, enhanced
LoranC, and/or other similar information that is received by, computed in, or
available to the mobile device to perform any or all of the location
determination
techniques, methods, or operations discussed in this application.
[0245] In some embodiments, as part of the operations in block 2204, the
processor/mobile device may also obtain, determine, generate or compute a near
term positional fix estimate (e.g., latitude and longitude values, etc.) from
information received from small cells (e.g., femto cells, etc.) that are
positioned
in, or suitable for use in, interior locations, such as within buildings, at
store
entrances in malls, on light posts, in fixtures, etc. In some embodiments, the
operations in block 2204 may be accomplished by utilizing RFID chips, quick
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
response (QR) codes, or other similar technologies. For example, an external
device may include an RFID chip that transmits its location information to the
mobile device. The mobile device may receive and use this information to
generate a near term positional fix estimate value, use the near term
positional fix
estimate value to generate a new waypoint, and use this new waypoint to check
or validate an existing waypoint (e.g., the current location waypoint, etc.).
The
mobile device may also be configured to use the near term positional fix
estimate
value to compute, replace and/or re-compute the current location waypoint.
[0246] In determination block 2206, the mobile device may determine whether
additional location information was received and/or whether the mobile device
recently reported its location information (which is indicative of the device
having acquired an adequate positional fix). In response to determining that
additional location information was not received (i.e., determination block
2206
= "No"), in block 2210 the mobile device may select the last known/trusted
location from memory. In various embodiments, this may be accomplished by
selecting the most recently computed, generated or stored waypoint (e.g., the
previous "current location waypoint," etc.) , selecting the waypoint having
the
most recent timestamp, selecting the waypoint having the highest precision or
confidence values, selecting the waypoint having the highest ranking, or any
combination thereof
[0247] In response to determining that additional location information was
received (i.e., determination block 2206 = "Yes"), in block 2208, the mobile
device may determine whether the received "additional location information" is
more accurate (or has higher confidence and/or precision values) than the last
known/trusted location stored in memory (or the current location waypoint
discussed above), and select the more accurate location information for use in
76
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
generating a final location waypoint. For example, the mobile device may
generate a temporary waypoint based on the received "additional location
information," determine whether the temporary waypoint is more accurate than
the current location waypoint, and select/set the more accurate of the two
waypoints for use in determining the final location waypoint.
[0248] In block 2211, the mobile device may use the selected waypoint (e.g.,
current location waypoint) to establish an LBS fix. In determination block
2212,
the mobile device may determine whether the LBS fix is sufficient (e.g.,
sufficiently detailed, sufficiently accurate, etc.) for use in determining the
final
location waypoint. In response to determining that the LBS fix is sufficient
(i.e.,
determination block 2212 = "Yes"), the mobile device may store the location
information (e.g., the LBS fix, waypoint associated with the LBS fix, current
location waypoint, etc.) in a location buffer in block 2216, enter an eLBS
network mode (or receive eLBS network data) in block 2218, and receive LBS
information from other devices in block 2220. In response to determining that
the LBS fix is not sufficient (i.e., determination block 2212 = "No"), in
block
2214, the mobile device may request, retrieve and/or receive sensor data, and
use
this information to perform sensor fusion operations. In block 2222, the
mobile
device may perform dead reckoning operations (e.g., based on the sensor data,
results of the sensor fusion operations, etc.) to generate a DR waypoint (or
DR
data) that includes DR location values (X, Y, Z), a time value, DR location
delta
values (AX, AY, AZ), confidence values (Cx,Cy,Cz), and one or more precision
values.
[0249] In blocks 2224, 2226 and 2228, the mobile device may perform
trilateration operations (e.g., based on the received LBS information, DR
data,
etc.) to generate updated eLBS information. For example, in blocks 2224 and
77
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
2226, the mobile device may use the received LBS information and/r DR data to
determine/compute the current location of the device, generate a final
location
waypoint (or estimate value) that includes trilateration location values (X,
Y, Z),
a time value, trilateration location delta values (AX, AY, AZ), confidence
values
(Cx,Cy,Cz) and one or more precision values, and/or use the generated final
location waypoint to set the current location of the device (e.g., by storing
the
generated final location waypoint as the current location waypoint, etc.). The
mobile device may store any or all of this updated eLBS position information
(e.g., the final location waypoint, etc.) in a location buffer in block 2216.
[0250] In some embodiments, the mobile device processor attempts to obtain its
positional location in block 2204, and based on the types of position/location
information that is provided/received, determines a confidence level value for
the
received information. In some embodiments, the processor may be configured so
that, if no responses are provided or received in block 2204, the processor
may
use the last location of the mobile device to obtain/determine the initial
positional
fix. After the initial fix is obtained (regardless of its accuracy), the
mobile device
may determine whether additional improvements are available, possible,
acquirable, and/or required. If improvements are required (or when a 911 call
is
placed), the mobile device may use the information collected from its various
sensors to determine, compute and/or provide an estimate (e.g., a waypoint or
estimate value) of the change in location/position of the device. In some
embodiments, this may be achieved via the mobile device processor performing a
combination of sensor fusion and dead reckoning operations (which are
described
in greater detail above).
[0251] As part of the dead reckoning operations (e.g., operations in block
2222,
etc.), the sensors/sensor information may be incremented and/or decremented
78
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
based on any of a variety of weighting filters, including a kalman filter. A
kalman filter may be a component in the mobile device that is configured to
perform kalman operations on a plurality of input data streams to generate a
single output in the form of a location, location information, coordinates, or
a
waypoint.
[0252] In some embodiments, the mobile device may be configured to update or
adjust the intervals for the sensors based on each sensor's response
characteristics. Adjusting the sensors may allow the mobile device to prevent
sensor saturation, thereby improving the device's overall responsiveness. For
example, accelerometer data may be updated at 100Hz intervals, manometer data
may be updated at 15Hz intervals, and the difference in the updates intervals
may
be included (or otherwise accounted for) in the dead reckoning determinations
made in the mobile device (e.g., when the mobile device generates a dead
reckoning position estimate in block 2222, etc.).
[0253] The trilateration component of the mobile device may be configured to
perform various operations/calculations to determine or generate triangulation
data (e.g., in blocks 2224 and 2226) that identifies the location of the
device with
respect to other wireless devices, both fixed and mobile. For example, after
the
dead reckoning position is estimated (or after the DR data is generated in
block
2222, etc.), this information may be passed to the trilateration component
(e.g.,
via memory write operations, wireless transceiver, etc.) that uses these
inputs in
conjunction with the information received from the wireless/external devices
to
compute the location of the device (e.g., in blocks 2224 and 2226). In some
embodiments, sensor data associated with the dead reckoning estimate/value may
include confidence intervals for the x, y, and z axis. These confidence values
79
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
may identify an individual or overall confidence of the position/location
information.
[0254] Generally, performing eLBS method 2200 improves the performance of
the mobile device by improving the location-based solutions described above
(e.g., with reference to FIGs. 1-19, etc.). For example, eLBS method 2200 may
allow the mobile device to generate the "more precise location information,"
updated eLBS position information, or a more accurate waypoint more
efficiently
than if the information is generated based solely on received location
information. This method also allows the mobile device to generate more
accurate location information with fewer iterations, thereby freeing up the
devices resources and improving its performance characteristics. For all these
reasons, method 2200 improves the overall functionality of the mobile device.
[0255] In addition, eLBS method 2200 may allow the mobile device to
intelligently determine whether or when to request additional location
information to perform further location updates/improvements. For example, the
mobile device may be configured to not request or initiate a positional
improvement (i.e., not generate more precise location information) if/when the
mobile device is stationary or when it determines that the device has moved
less
than one meter. This improves the power consumption characteristics of the
device and helps preserve its battery life. Moreover, this allows the mobile
device to request a position update (or generate more precise location
information) immediately after a subscriber dials 911 or otherwise initiates
an
emergency call. This also allows the information to be sent/routed to the
public
service answering point (PSAP) faster, which in turn improves the
responsiveness and overall functionality of the mobile device.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0256] In some embodiments, the mobile computing device may be configured
to request a position updates from other devices. The mobile device's initial
position may be determined through the use of time of flight (TOF) via two
message inquiries. The RS SI may be read as well, and using the TOF and RSSI,
the mobile device may more accurately determine the distance between the
mobile device and each of the other devices. The mobile device may then use
this distance information to better determine its current location (via the
performance of any or all the methods, operations, or techniques discussed in
this
application).
[0257] Privacy (e.g., data privacy, etc.) is an important aspect of modern
systems. The various techniques, solutions, methods, and operations discussed
in
the application allow for a subscriber to be identified quickly and
effectively
without requiring the use of that subscriber's IMSI (or other sensitive data)
that
could be misused by malware or a hacker. For example, rather than using the
subscriber's IMSI, the system (e.g., mobile devices, sensors, etc.) could use
a PN
code to generate an independent device ID when the device turns on, and use
this
device ID for all subsequent communications. The device ID may change every
time the wireless device is powered on. For these and other reasons,
performing
the above-described operations improves the device's overall functionality
(e.g.,
by improving its privacy and security characteristics, etc.).
[0258] Once the initial handshake has taken place the mobile may exchange its
location information with another device. The mobile device may provide
known points, which may be waypoints, RFID/QC points, WiFi AP points, or
any information unit or structure that includes latitude and longitude values
(or
equivalents thereof). In some embodiments, the mobile device may be
81
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
configured to receive and/or use four known points to generate more accurate
or
more precise location information.
[0259] FIG. 23 illustrates a system 2300 for relaying information request
messages and obtaining location information from other devices in accordance
with an embodiment. The mobile device may then use the obtained location
information to determine or compute the more precise location information (or
an
update final location value, etc.). In the example illustrated in FIG. 23, the
system 2300 includes a mobile device 102, immediate neighbor mobile devices
2302, and other mobile devices 2304. In some embodiments, one or more of the
components in the system 2300 may be configured to track and report the
number of hops in a path (e.g., communication pathway, wireless data path,
etc.).
This allows devices that are not initially connected to the mobile device 102
in
the network to more quickly and efficiently provide data back to the mobile
device 102.
[0260] In some embodiments, the mobile device 102 may be configured to
generate, send, receive and/or use a message/information structure 2306 that
includes distance information 2308 and/or location information 2310. The
distance information 2308 may include time of flight (TOF) information, an
originating device ID field/value, a responding device ID field/value, a
priority
field/value, a handle time field/value, an originating TAG field/value, RFID
information, a latitude field/value, a longitude field/value, an altitude
field/value,
a bearing field/value, a speed field/value, a timestamp field/value, an
accuracy
field/value, a barometer field/value, a hop distance field/value, and a path
field/value. The location information 2310 may include an originating device
ID
field/value, a responding device ID field/value, an originating TAG
field/value, a
latitude field/value, a longitude field/value, an altitude field/value, a
bearing
82
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
field/value, a speed field/value, a timestamp field/value, an accuracy
field/value,
a barometer field/value, and a hop distance field/value, a path field/value.
In
some embodiments, the location information 2310 may also include one or more
known points, including a latitude field/value, a longitude field/value, an
altitude
field/value, a distance field/value, a bearing field/value, a confidence
field/value,
and/or a device ID field/value. In some embodiments, one or more of the
points/known points may be a waypoint that includes any or all of the
information, fields, or values discussed above. In various embodiments, any or
all of the data/values included in the distance information 2308 and/or
location
information 2310 messages to determine or compute one or more waypoints
(e.g., current location waypoint, final location waypoint, etc.).
[0261] In operation block 2312, the mobile device 102 may search for near
field
(NF) LANs and/or determine whether there are NF LANs available. In operation
block 2314, the mobile device 102 may determine that there are no NF LANs
available. In operation block 2316, mobile device 102 may set up a mesh
network in response to determining that there are no NF LANs available. In
operation blocks 2318 and 2320, the mobile device 102 may perform various
operations to establish an NF LAN, and take on the role of master.
[0262] In operations 2322 through 2328, the mobile device 102 may
communicate with the immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302 to determine the
distance between the mobile device 102 and its neighboring devices. In
operations 2330 through 2338, the mobile device 102 may communicate with the
immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302 (which relay information to the other
mobile devices 2304) to obtain location information. In particular, in
operation
2322, the mobile device 102 may generate and send a distance request message
to one or more of the immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302. In operation
83
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
2324, the mobile device 102 may receive a distance acknowledgment message
from one or more of the immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302. In operation
2326, the mobile device 102 may send a second distance request message to the
immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302. In operation 2328, the mobile device
102 may receive a second distance acknowledgment message from the immediate
neighbor mobile devices 2302.
[0263] In operation 2330, the mobile device 102 may send a location
information request message to the immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302. In
operation 2332, one or more of the immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302 may
relay the location information request message to other mobile devices 2304.
In
operation 2334, the mobile device 102 may receive a location information
acknowledgment message from one or more of the immediate neighbor mobile
devices 2302. In operation 2336, the immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302
may receive a "relay location information acknowledgment message" from one
or more of the other mobile devices 2304, and send the relay location
information
acknowledgment message to the mobile device in operation 2338.
[0264] In the example illustrated in FIG. 23, the mobile device 102 operates
as
the master in the communication flow. FIG. 24 illustrates that the mobile
device
102 may also operate as a slave. FIG. 24 further illustrates that the eLBS for
communication with other mobile devices 2304 may take on a "listen only" mode
when an update is not needed or necessary (e.g., when it is determined to not
to
be required). In addition, during the active exchange with other mobile
devices
2304 and immediate neighbor mobile devices 2302, each device may provide any
or all of the information illustrated in FIG. 24.
84
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0265] With reference to FIG. 24, in operation block 2312, the mobile device
102 may search for NF LANs. The mobile device 102 may determine that an NF
LAN is available in operation block 2314, and join an NF LAN with one or more
of the immediate neighbor devices 2302 and one or more of the other devices
2304 in blocks 2404 and 2406. In blocks 2410 through 2416, the mobile device
102 may communicate with the immediate neighbor devices 2302 to determine
or establish the distances to the mobile devices (e.g., via time, RSSI, etc.).
In
operations 2420 through 2426, the mobile device 102 may communicate with the
immediate neighbor devices 2302 and the other mobile devices 2034 to
determine, obtain, or provide location information.
[0266] Other methods for obtaining an initial fix may include communicating or
interacting with ibeacon type devices and/or devices that emit sounds above
the
audible hearing range of humans. Additional devices that provide location
information (e.g., Lat, Long and Altitude of a trusted or known location) to
the
mobile device 102 may include devices that include or utilize RFID or QR
Codes, examples of which are illustrated in FIG. 25.
[0267] FIG. 25 illustrates a system that includes a mobile device 102
configured
to utilize RFID or QR Codes in accordance with the various embodiments. In the
example illustrated in FIG. 25, an RFID/QR device 2501 provides location
information to the mobile device 102. The RFID/QR device 2501 may
positioned, placed, or located in any of a variety of locations (e.g.,
entrances to
malls or stores, on street lamp poles, etc.) and configured to send, transmit
or
broadcast its location to the mobile device 102 (e.g., periodically, in
response to
receiving a query message, based on the mobile device's location, etc.). The
mobile device 102 may be configured to receive and use this information (e.g.,
as
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
part of the eLBS operations) to determine its current and/or future-estimated
location.
[0268] In some embodiments, the RFID/QR device 2501 may be configured to
send its location in response to receiving a location query message 2503 from
the
mobile device 102. The mobile device 102 may be configured to scan a QR
Code to initiate the process of generating and sending a location query
message
2503 to the RFID/QR device 2501. The location query message 2503 may
include a Tag (e.g., RFID TAG) value/field, which may used as a message ID in
some embodiments. The location query message 2503 may also include a time
value that may be used for calculating Time of Flight (TOF) and/or other
similar
information (e.g., for determining when the message began, etc.).
[0269] In response to receiving the location query message 2503, the RFID/QR
device 2501 may generate and send a transponded Tag message 2505 to the
mobile device 102. The transponded Tag message 2505 may include a time
value, a time stamp, a device ID, and location information (e.g., lat, long,
alt,
etc.) that identifies the location of the QR/RFID device 2501. The device ID
may
be a name, a street address, store number, etc. Time value may include a delay
value that is associated with the RFID/QR device 2501 or the distance between
the RFID/QR device 2501 and the mobile device 102.
[0270] Generally, four known points in space (e.g. four sets of coordinates)
may
be used to generate accurate three dimensional location/position information
via
trilateration. For example, the mobile device 102 could be configured to use
the
known/relative locations of four different mobile devices to generate three
dimensional location/position information. Yet, in a mobile environment, it is
often difficult to identify, request and receive location information for four
86
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
wireless devices that are within the same proximity (i.e., are sufficiently
close to
one another). Accordingly, the examples below (e.g., discussed with reference
to
FIGs. 26 through 29) illustrate various techniques that may be implemented and
used by the mobile device 102 to generate more accurate three dimensional
location/position information with or without the availability of location
information from four independent devices.
[0271] FIG. 26 illustrates an example system 2600 that includes two mobile
devices 102, 2601 that are configured to collaborate or work in concert to
determine their respective locations with a high degree of accuracy. In the
example illustrated in FIG. 26, the system includes a first mobile device 2601
(Mobile A or "A") and a second mobile device 102 (Mobile B or "B"). The
second mobile device 102 may be a target wireless device that is configured to
receive and use location information from the first mobile device 2601 to
perform eLBS operations (e.g., to generate accurate three dimensional
location/position information, generate more precise location information,
improve its positional fix, etc.).
[0272] The first mobile device 2601 may be configured to determine/compute
its location at various times (e.g., at t=t-1; t=0; t=t+1, etc.), and provide
this
location information (INFO A) to the second mobile device 102. The second
mobile device 102 may determine its location at various times (e.g., at t=t-1;
t=0;
t=t+1, etc.) and generate location information (INFO B), use the received
location information (INFO A) to determine, compute, or generate more precise
location information (INFO B'). The more precise location information (INFO
B') may be a waypoint or another information structure that includes a
latitude
value, longitude value, altitude value, timestamp, confidence value, precision
value, etc. The second mobile device 102 may use the more precise location
87
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
information (INFO B') to provide its user with an enhanced location based
service.
[0273] In some embodiments, the second mobile device 102 may be further
configured to send the generated more precise location information (INFO B')
to
the first mobile device 2601. The first mobile device 2601 may be configured
to
receive and use this information (INFO B') to compute different more precise
location information (INFO A'), and send this information (INFO A') back to
the
second mobile device 102 for use in computing even more precise location
information (INFO B"). These operations may be performed repeatedly or
continuously by the mobile devices 102, 2601 until a desired level of accuracy
is
reached (e.g., until a confidence or precision value associated with the
generated
location information exceeds a threshold value, etc.).
[0274] Generally, the accuracy of three dimensional location information
improves significantly when the device has access to four data points (e.g.,
four
known/relative locations, four sets of coordinate values, four points in space
or
space-time, etc.). A mobile device may be configured to generate one or more
of
such data points based on its location in time, including its past locations
and/or
estimated-future locations. As such, mobile devices 102, 2601 may determine
their past locations (e.g., location at time t=t-1, etc.) by retrieving
previously
computed location information from memory. Mobile devices 102, 2601 may
determine or estimate their current locations (e.g., location at time t=0) via
any
combination of the methods/techniques discussed in this application. Mobile
devices 102, 2601 may determine or estimate their future locations (e.g.,
location
at time t=t+1, etc.) based on sensor data, dead reckoning, or any other
suitable
technique discussed in this application.
88
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0275] In the example illustrated in FIG. 26, communications between the
mobile devices 102, 2601 occur at time t=0 (this includes ranging), and the
location of a device at time t=0 may be represented as (0,0). The past
locations
of a device may be represented as (-1,0) for time t=t-1, (-2,0) for time t=t-
2, etc.
Similarly, the estimated future location for the device at time t=t+1 may be
represented as (1,0), etc. Vector "A LO" represents the distance 2603 that the
first mobile device 2601 travels or moves between times t=t-1 and t=0. The
vector "A Li" represents the distance 2605 that the first mobile device 2601
is
likely to travel or move between times t=0 and t=t+1. Similarly, vectors "B
LO"
and "B Li" represent the distances 2607, 2609 that the second mobile device
102
travels or moves between times t=t-1 and t=0 and between times t=0 and t=t+1,
respectively.
[0276] Vector AB (-1,0) represents sounding data (i.e., ranging) that is
established between the mobile devices at time t=t-1. Vector AB (0,0)
represents
sounding data for time t=0. These two vectors may be adjusted based on dead
reckoning information (or the information generated via the other techniques
discussed in this application) and to account for the relative differences in
values
for either the first mobile device 2601 (A), the second mobile device 102 (B),
or
for both devices. In some embodiments, an additional vector may be generated
for time t=t+1, which is represented as vector AB (1,0) in FIG. 26. This
additional vector may be used as a replacement value and/or as a check value.
[0277] Due to the ranging information between A and B at both t=- 1 and t=0,
points B(t-1), B(t=0), A(t-1) and A(t=0) are known to the mobile device 102
after
the communication exchange at time t=0. In some embodiments, the mobile
device 102 may be configured to also compute, determine, and/or estimate point
A(t+1) and point B(t+1). Based on the confidence values associated with these
89
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
points, the mobile device may select four points for use in determining its
three-
dimensional location and/or performing location-based operations (e.g., eLBS
operations, etc.).
[0278] There are a number of perturbations with the method discussed above,
two of which are illustrated in Tables 1 and 2 below.
Mobile Time (t)
1 B 0
2 A -1
3 A 0
4 A +1
Table 1: Two device Pseudo Position
Mobile Time (t)
1 B -1
2 B 0
3 A 0
4 A +1
Table 2: Two device Pseudo Position (example 2)
[0279] FIG. 27 illustrates an example system in which two mobile devices
2701, 102 are used to obtain four data points based on the motion of one or
both
of the devices. A first mobile device 2701 (Mobile A) provides location
information at times (t=t-1, t=0 and t=t+1) to a second mobile device 102
(Mobile B). The location value at time t=t+1 may be provided at t=0 as an
actual
position (e.g., for a check) or as a calculated/estimated future position
value. The
second mobile device102 at t=+1 may use the current location and two previous
locations of the first mobile device 2701 to determine its current
location/position. These locations may also be used as a check for dead
reckoning and/or positional validation.
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0280] In some embodiments, the first mobile device 2701 (Mobile A) may be
configured to estimate its future locations (at t=t+1, t=t+2), and send these
estimates to the second mobile device 102 (Mobile B). In addition, the
sounding
data for AB at t=t-1 and AB at t=0 may provide two vectors that may be used to
determine the locations of the mobile devices 2701, 102. In some embodiments,
these vectors may be adjusted based on DR information to account for relative
differences in the first mobile device 2701, second mobile device 102, or
both. A
third vector may be calculated, determined or computed for AB at t=t+1, and
used as a replacement and/or as a check value. In the illustrated example, the
vector for AB at t=t-1 is AB (-1, 1), the vector for AB at t=0 is AB (0, 1),
and the
vector for AB at t=t+1 is AB (+1, 1). The second mobile device 102 (Mobile B)
may be configured to intelligently select one or more of these vectors (for
use in
generating more precise three dimensional location information, etc.) based on
a
confidence interval associated with the initial calculation (which may be
extrapolated).
[0281] FIG. 28 illustrates an example system in which three mobile devices
2801, 102 and 2803 are used to obtain four data points based on the motion of
one or more of the devices. Mobile device 102 obtains information from mobile
device 2801 and mobile device 2803. The possibility of having needed for
positional location is closer without having to estimate two points. With
three
mobile devices, it is possible to extract this information by using a similar
concept discussed above with reference to FIGs. 26 and 27, with the exception
that which positions at t=t-1, t=0, and t=t+1 and vectors AB (-1,1), AB (0,1),
AB
(1,1), CB (-1,2), CB (0,2) and CB (1,2) selected and used as part of the
trilateration operations could be determined based on a confidence interval.
91
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0282] FIG. 29 illustrates an example system in which four mobile devices
2901, 102, 2903, and 2905 are used to obtain four data points based on the
motion of one or more of the devices. In this illustrated example, one of the
other mobiles 2901, 2903, 2905 at t=0 has a low confidence interval and/or
does
not report its location information (was not able to obtain an adequate
location
fix, etc.). The mobile device may perform the same or similar operations as
those discussed above with reference to FIG. 26 and 27, but use one or more
data points that have lower confidence values (or approximate or less precise
location information) than which would otherwise be optimal or desired. The
positions as at t=t-1, t=0 and t=t+1 for the four mobile devices 2901, 102,
2803
and 2805 may be determined based on their movements A LO, A Li, B LO, BL 1,
C LO, C Li, D LO and D Li or associated vectors AB (-1,1), AB (0,1) AB (1,1),
CB (-1,1), CB (0,1), CB (1,1), DB (-1,1), DB (0,1), DB (1,1), any or all of
which
may be intelligently selected based on one or more confidence values.
[0283] Some embodiments may include mobile computing device(s) that are
configured to perform enhanced location based trilateration operations.
Trilateration for enhanced location based positions may require that a mobile
device perform sensor fusion operations. As is discussed further below, when
information from a multitude of devices is used to generate accurate three
dimensional information the manner in which the sensor fusion operations are
performed by a wireless/mobile device become even more important.
[0284] FIG. 30A illustrates various components, information flows, and
operations in an example mobile device system 3000 that is configured to
perform enhanced location based service (eLBS) trilateration operations in
accordance with an embodiment. FIG. 30B illustrates that, in another
embodiment, the mobile device system 3000 may be configured to perform
92
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
single device eLBS trilateration operations that do not require receiving
information from other devices in the communication group. In the examples
illustrated in FIGs. 30A and 30B, the system 3000 includes a location
information component 3002, a trilateration component 3004, and an
output/storage component 3006.
[0285] In block 3012, a processor of the mobile device may receive
information that is suitable for use as, may be used to generate, or which
includes, location information, such as GPS data, a Cell ID, a WiFi ID, Beacon
data, a RFID, Loran C data, OS Library Function, etc. or changes in any of the
these values. In some embodiments, the mobile device may receive location
information from active or passive external devices/systems. For example, the
mobile device may communicate with an active external device, such as location
based server from a fleet management company, to receive location information.
As part of these operations, the mobile device may perform various operations
(e.g., interrogation, etc.) to establish communication links and receive
information from the active external devices. Alternatively or in addition,
the
mobile device may receive location information from a passive external device,
such an RFID chip that scans for the presence of device and/or which
broadcasts
location information periodically. In addition, the mobile device may generate
location information locally (in the device) based on information received
from
an external system in block 3012. For example, the mobile device may generate
GPS data (e.g., GPS coordinates or GPS determined position information) in a
local GPS receiver based on GPS information received from an external GPS
system. As another example, the mobile device may use received WiFi ID
information to determine or compute its proximity to known networks, and
generate location information based on the determined proximity to these known
networks.
93
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0286] In block 3014, the mobile device may generate and/or receive updated
dead reckoning (DR) position information (or dead reckoning position estimate
value). As mentioned above, the mobile device may be equipped with sensors
(e.g., accelerometer, gyros, magnetic compass, altimeters, odometers, etc.)
that
allow it to estimate the distance it has traveled or moved over a period of
time in
any dimension (e.g., x, y or z; latitude, longitude or altitude; etc.). The
mobile
device may use information collected from these sensors in block 3014 to
perform any or all of the dead reckoning operations discussed in this
application
and generate DR position information. For example, the mobile device may use
information from the sensors (e.g., accelerometer, gyros, magnetic compass,
altimeters, odometers, etc.) to determine the distance it has traveled (or
been
moved) since the last time it was able to ascertain its location with a
sufficiently
high degree of confidence (e.g., Cx, Cy and Cz are all greater than .95,
etc.),
determine its current location based on the determined distance (e.g.,
distance it
has traveled, etc.), and generate updated DR position information that
identifies
its current location. In some embodiments, the mobile device may also compute
confidence values and/or a precision value for the generated DR position
information in block 3014.
[0287] In block 3016, the mobile device may receive and process location based
service information (LBS information) from other devices, such as from
transceiver or other mobile devices in the communication group. Since the LBS
information may be received from devices that are being moved and/or which are
not stationary, the LBS information may include, or may be used to generate or
establish, multiple waypoints at discrete times and/or for discrete durations
or
periods of time. In some embodiments, the LBS information may include
estimated distances between multiple (e.g., three or more)
devices/transceivers
and the mobile device. Each waypoint may be an information structure that
94
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
includes one or more information fields, component vectors, location
information, position information, coordinate information, etc.
[0288] Thus, the location information component 3002 of the mobile device
may be configured to receive, process and/or generate standard location
information (or a first data set, estimate value, etc.) in block 3012, updated
DR
position information (or a second data set, estimate value, etc.) in block
3014,
and LBS information (a third data set, estimate value, etc.) in block 3016. In
operation 3040, the location information component 3002 may send any or all
such information (e.g., first, second, and third values/sets) to the
trilateration
component 3004 as input data.
[0289] In blocks 3018-3022, the mobile device/trilateration component 3004
may use the received input data to perform trilateration operations (e.g.,
trilateration API location operations, etc.), determine the geographical
coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates) of the
mobile
device, generate a trilateration position estimate value, generate a final
position
set (e.g., a final location estimate value), generate an updated final
position set
(e.g., x, y and z coordinates, an updated position estimate value, more
precise
information, etc.), and send the updated final position set to the
output/storage
component 3006. The trilateration operations may include operations for
implementing any or all of the techniques discussed in this application,
including
time of arrival, angle of arrival, mobile-to-mobile trilateration, lateration,
multilateration, triangulation, etc.
[0290] In the example illustrated in FIG. 30A, in block 3018, the mobile
device
generates/computes/receives trilateration location values (X, Y, Z), a time
value,
trilateration location delta values (AX, AY, AZ), confidence values
(Cx,Cy,Cz),
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
and one or more precision values, the combination of which may be stored or
used as a waypoint (or a data set or estimate value). In block 3020, the
mobile
device may rank or assign weights to the current or historical waypoints
(i.e.,
previously computed waypoints). In block 3022, the mobile device may generate
two or three dimensional vectors using the waypoints (current and/or
historic).
In an embodiment, the mobile device may generate the vectors based on their
rank/weights (e.g., by including/using only waypoints having a rank that
exceeds
a threshold value).
[0291] As mentioned above, the trilateration component 3004 may send the
computed updated final position set to the output/storage component 3006. The
output/storage component 3006 may store the updated final position set in a
location buffer or the illustrated updated final position datastore 3024. In
block
3026, the output/storage component 3006 may use the updated final position set
(more precise location information) to provide a location based service. In
block
3028, the output/storage component 3006 may send the updated final position
set
to other devices, such as to a network server or the other mobile devices in
the
communication group.
[0292] In order to accurately compute/determine the updated final position
set,
the mobile device system 3000 may be required to communicate with other
devices in a communication group (e.g., in block 3016). However, mobile
devices do not always have access to a communication group (yet alone a
sufficiently large communication group) and/or to the robust data that could
be
required to accurately determine the location of the device. As such, in the
example illustrated in FIG. 30B, in block 3044, the mobile device may receive
LBS information from a server computing device (e.g., a network provided
location service). In operation 3042, the mobile device may send the standard
96
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
location information (or first data set, estimate value, etc.), updated DR
position
information (or second data set, estimate value, etc.), and the LBS
information
received from the server (or third data set, estimate value, etc.) to the
trilateration
component 3004 as input data. The trilateration component 3004 may receive
and use the input data to compute/generate a final position set and/or an
updated
final position set, and send the generated position set to the output/storage
component 3006 for storage and/or use.
[0293] FIG. 30C illustrates various additional components, information flows,
and operations in an example mobile device system 3000 configured to perform
enhanced location based service (eLBS) trilateration operations in accordance
with the various embodiments. In block 3052, the mobile device may use
information received from active and/or passive external devices or systems to
generate a first data set (e.g., x, y and z coordinates, first estimate value,
etc.). In
block 3054, the mobile device may use information collected from internal
sensors and systems to perform dead reckoning operations and generate a second
data set (e.g., x, y and z coordinates, second estimate value, etc.). In block
3056,
the mobile device may receive location based service (LBS) information from a
server (e.g., x, y and z coordinates, LBS estimate value, etc.). In block
3056, the
mobile device may pass the received LBS information through a first kalman
filter (Kalman Filter 1) to generate filtered LBS data (e.g., a filtered LBS
estimate value, etc.). The kalman filter may be a procedure, algorithm,
method,
technique, or sequence of operations for accomplishing the function of a
kalman
filter.
[0294] In block 3060, the mobile device may perform trilateration operations
(e.g., trilateration API location operations, etc.), determine the
geographical
coordinates of the mobile device, and generate a third data set (e.g., x, y
and z
97
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
coordinates, third estimate value, etc.) based on the determined geographical
coordinates. In block 3062, the mobile device may pass the first, second, and
third data sets (or estimate values, etc.) through a second kalman filter
(Kalman
Filter 2) to generate a position set (e.g., final position set, final location
estimate
value, updated final location estimate value, etc.). In block 3064, the mobile
device may use the position set to determine/compute the current location of
the
device. As part of these operations, the mobile device may generate a waypoint
information structure (or estimate value) that includes trilateration location
values (X, Y, Z), a time value, trilateration location delta values (AX, AY,
AZ),
confidence values (Cx,Cy,Cz), and one or more precision values, and use the
generated way point to set the current location of the device. In an
embodiment,
the mobile device may be configured to store the waypoint in a list (or other
information structure) in conjunction with a timestamp.
[0295] FIG. 30C illustrates three types of position calculations that are
fused
creating one position that is reported for the device.
[0296] The eLBS Trilaterion process at a high level is illustrated in FIG.
30C.
Not only is a kalman filter approach used for the trilateration process
involving
external devices which the anchor mobile device (AD) determines its position
from, but the external trilateration position is fed into another kalman
filter
process which also uses as inputs the internal position tracking via dead
reckoning, and the available external stationary devices and systems, and
external
mobile device and systems, collectively abbreviated to as external devices
(ED),
which are reporting what the current devices location is.
[0297] Several decisions are made regarding the measurements received as well
as the need to obtain previous waypoints based on the amount of devices
98
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
reporting to the anchor mobile device. A waypoint is location information that
has been determined to be valid location information and has a confidence
value
associated with it. Waypoints generally have an overall rank and a device
specific rank also associated with them. Waypoints can be based on location
information based on dead reckoning location information, external
trilateration
location information, or location information received from external devices.
[0298] FIG. 31 illustrates communication and information flows in a system
configured to determine the range between two devices 3101, 3103 when there is
no external time source (e.g., a common time value, etc.) with which all the
devices may synchronize. The two devices illustrated in FIG. 31 are an anchor
mobile device (AD) 3103 and an external device (ED) 3101. These devices may
obtain a pseudo synchronization of measurements, taking account
communication pathway time delays and the delay associated with processing a
request.
[0299] Specifically in the illustrated example of FIG. 31, AD 3103 sends a
location query request 3107 for position updates to ED(x) 3101. ED(x) 3101 and
AD 3103 do not share a common clock. The location query request 3107 may
include any or all of information discussed above with reference to FIG. 25,
such
as the time when the query was sent, etc. ED(x) 3101 may send a location query
response 3109 that includes information identifying the time difference
between
when ED(x) 3101 received the location query request 3107 and when ED(x)
3101 transmitted the location query response 3109.
[0300] The location query response 3109 may include the time at which the
location query request 3107 was received, the time when the location query
response 3109 was sent, or both. The location query response 3109 may also
99
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
include a delay value that identifies when ED(x) received the location query
request 3107 to when ED(x) sent the location query response 3109. It may also
include location information and/or any other information requested via the
location query request 3107. Similarly, AD 3103 may record the time that it
sent
the location query request 3107, record the time it received the location
query
response 3109 from ED(x) 3101, and use this information to determine a total
time delay. Knowing the delay in processing the request and communication
pathways allows for synchronizing the timing for the location information
provided and the clock of the AD 3103.
[0301] FIGs. 32 and 33 illustrate methods for receiving and using in an anchor
mobile device (AD) an external device's (ED's) position information to prove
an
enhanced location based service. The AD may be configured to determine the
ED's relative position (e.g., relative to itself) and compare the determined
relative position to a range value provided by the ED. The range value may be
value that is calculated in the ED, and which identifies a distance between
the ED
and the AD. For ease of legibility, the method illustrated in FIG. 32
represents
an example for receiving data from a single mobile device. It should be
understood that, in other embodiments, the same or similar operations may be
performed based on information received from multiple mobile devices.
[0302] At block 3201, an AD may receive location information (e.g., LBS
information, etc.) from ED(1). The location information may include a latitude
value, a longitude value, an altitude value, range information, and a time
value.
In an embodiment, the location information may be a waypoint. In block 3203,
the AD may normalize the location information timing to a time (e.g., t=0).
Said
another way, the AD may normalize its measured location and/or received
location information to a common time (e.g., based on the processors cycle) so
100
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
that the ad-hoc positions reported by all the EDs and other sensors are
normalized (or synchronized) to a unified time. In some embodiments, in block
3203, the AD may perform a pseudo synchronization method, which is discussed
in detail further below. In some embodiments, after normalizing/synchronizing
the location information timing, the AD may determine and assign a confidence
value to each unit of location information (e.g., each waypoint, etc.)
provided by
each ED.
[0303] In determination block 3205, the AD may determine whether the
received location information is valid. Validity may be determined on a
variance
between expected and actual relative positions. For example, the AD may be
configured to compute or determine an expected position (or expected relative
position) based on previous trilateration results, previous dead reckoning
results,
or data received from other external sensors or devices. In some embodiments,
the location may calculated based on the location information provided to the
AD
by the ED.
[0304] In response to determining that location information is not valid,
(i.e.,
determination block 3205 = "No"), the AD may discard the measurement in
block 3209. If a location value is determined to not be valid and/or has a
confidence that is too low (i.e., does not exceed a threshold value), it can
be
temporarily stored and marked to be discarded. If the AD receives location
information from several EDs having low confidence values associated with the
location information which were initially determined not to be valid, but the
EDs
reported location information have high precision, the AD may take those low
confidence measurements as being valid. In this case the measurements have the
marker for discarding removed and are stored for use in block 3207. In
response
101
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
to determining that a location information is valid, (i.e., determination
block
3205 = "Yes") the AD may use the information in block 3207.
[0305] In particular, in block 3207, the AD may calculate a rank for location
information provided by ED(1) with respect to AD based on the range
calculation
and confidence value of the location information provided by ED(1). In
determination block 3211, the AD may determine whether the location
information provided by ED(1) has a sufficiently high confidence value. In
response to determining that the location information provided by ED(1) does
not
have a sufficiently high confidence value (i.e., determination block 3211 =
"No"), the AD may mark the location information provided by ED(1) to be
discarded in block 3209. This is similar to the AD making a determination that
the information is not valid, but the location information has a confidence
value,
and range value/calculation associated with it. In response to determining
that a
location information has a sufficiently high confidence value, the AD, in
block
3213, may stores the location information as a waypoint (e.g., as a current
location waypoint) for ED(1) in its location database.
[0306] FIG. 33 illustrates process 3300, which is an expanded and continuation
of process 3200 for FIG. 32. In determination block 3301, the AD may
determine whether the ED previously reported a location (or sent a valid
waypoint, etc.). In response to determining the ED did not previously report a
location, (i.e., determination block 3301 = "No"), in determination block
3311,
the AD may determine whether the AD moved (or changed its reported location)
by more than a distance or a percentage value in any axis or direction.
[0307] In response to determining that the AD did change its position by a set
percentage in any axis (i.e., determination block 3311 = "Yes"), in block
3313,
102
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
the AD may select and use the highest ranked waypoint, which may be a
previously computed and stored waypoint for AD (e.g., for t=t-1 or t=t-2 etc.)
with its range corrected to the t=0 for the current position of AD. In block
3325,
the AD may insert the waypoint into a sorted list of coordinates X, Y, and Z
and
bearing components reported from ED1 for t=0, t=t-1, or possibly t=t-2
accordingly.
[0308] In response to determining that the AD did not move (or change its
reported location) by more than the distance or percentage value in any axis
or
direction (i.e., determination block 3311 = "No"), the AD may determine it is
stationary (and mark itself as such) in block 3305.
[0309] In response to determining that the ED did report a location (i.e.,
determination block 3301 = "Yes") or in response to determining that the AD is
stationary in block 3305, the AD may determine whether four or more EDs are
currently reporting location information (or whether waypoints where received
from four or more devices) in determination block 3303. In response to
determining that four or more EDs are reporting location information (i.e.,
determination block 3303 = "Yes"), the AD may determine whether a rank value
associated with reported location information (or reported waypoint) exceeds
(e.g., is greater than, etc.) the ranks of the other stored or received
location
information (or received waypoints) in determination block 3307.
[0310] In response to determining that the rank of the reported waypoint
exceeds the ranks of the other stored or received waypoints (i.e.,
determination
block 3307 = "Yes"), in block 3309 the AD may store the location information
(or received waypoint) in memory and/or mark the information as being suitable
for use as the current location waypoint or location information for t=0. On
the
103
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
other hand, in response to determining that the rank of the reported waypoint
does not exceed the ranks of the other stored or received waypoints (i.e.,
determination block 3307 = "No"), the AD may select and use the highest
ranking waypoint/location information in block 3313.
103111 In response to determining that four or more EDs are not reporting
location information (i.e., determination block 3303 = "No"), in determination
block 3315 the AD may determine whether three EDs are currently reporting
location information. In response to determining that three EDs are reporting
location information (i.e., determination block 3315 = "Yes"), in block 3317
the
AD may retrieve the highest ranking location information or the highest ranked
stored waypoint from memory. The highest ranked stored waypoint may be a
previously reported waypoint (received from any of the reporting EDs) that has
the highest rank. The retrieved waypoint may added to the existing three
reported waypoints (i.e., the waypoints received from each of the three
reporting
EDs) to obtain a total of four waypoints. The waypoints may time normalized to
t=0 and range corrected for t=0, and in block 3325, the AD may insert the
waypoints into a sorted list of coordinates X, Y, and Z and bearing components
reported from ED1 for t=0, t=t-1, or possibly t=t-2 accordingly.
[0312] In response to determining that three EDs are not reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3315 = "No"), in determination block
3319
the AD may determine whether two EDs are currently reporting location
information. In response to determining that two EDs are reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3319 = "Yes"), in block 3321 the AD may
retrieve two previously reported highest ranked waypoints (received from any
of
the reporting EDs). The AD may add the retrieved waypoints to the existing two
reported waypoints to obtain a total of four way points. The previously
reported
104
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
waypoints may be time normalized to t=0 and range corrected for t=0. In block
3325, the AD may insert the waypoints into a sorted list of coordinates X, Y,
and
Z and bearing components reported from ED1 for t=0, t=t-1, or possibly t=t-2
accordingly.
[0313] In response to determining that two EDs are not reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3319 = "No"), in block 3323 the AD may
retrieve three of the highest ranked previously reported waypoints stored in
memory to obtain a total of four waypoints. The previously reported waypoints
may be time normalized to t=0 and range corrected for t=0. In block 3325, the
AD may insert the waypoints into a sorted list of coordinates X, Y, and Z and
bearing components reported from ED1 for t=0, t=t-1, or possibly t=t-2
accordingly.
[0314] Block 3325 uses the waypoints in the sorted list as input for
trilateration
and continues to FIGs. 34 and 35, which illustrate processes for determining
the
position location accuracy using the trilateration methods for multiple
devices
reporting locations. The output of the AD's trilateration for each EDs, the
reported positions, may be ranked with respect to each other based on accuracy
and confidence. Using these values, possibly discarding or ignoring those
values
which are considered inferior or invalid, provides for achieving highest
position
location accuracy to be achieved. The output of the eLBS trilateration
operations
may be a position/location (or waypoint) that is used by a device to report
its
current position (or for other functions, such as to provide an enhanced
location
based service).
[0315] In particular, FIG. 34 illustrates the output of FIG. 33 may be used
(for
each reporting ED) as trilateration input. Block 3401 illustrates the
trilateration
105
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
input for a first ED, ED(1), which is process 3300 for ED(1). Block 3402
illustrates the trilateration input for a second ED, ED(2) which is process
3300
for ED(2). 3420 illustrates one or more EDs providing trilateration input.
Block
3430 illustrates the trilateration input for an Nth ED, ED(N) which is process
3300 for ED(N). All of the trilateration input may combined in block 3410 as
reporting EDs waypoints. All of the separate ED's waypoints may be normalized
to a time, t=0.
103161 In determination block 3501, the AD may determine whether four or
more EDs are reporting location information. In response to determining four
or
more EDs are reporting location information (i.e., determination block 3501 =
"Yes"), in block 3502, the AD may select the highest ranked waypoint reported
for each ED. The AD may provide the selected waypoints as inputs to a kalman
filter in block 3510.
103171 In response to determining fewer than four EDs are reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3501 = "No"), in determination block
3503, the AD may determine whether three EDs are reporting location
information. In response to determining three EDs are reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3503 = "Yes"), in block 3504, the AD
may
use the reported waypoints from all three EDs and selects the highest ranked
previously reported waypoint for t=t-1 and/or t=t-2 for any ED in the database
(and in so doing obtains a total of four waypoints). The AD may then provide
the four waypoints to a kalman filter in block 3510.
[0318] In response to determining that fewer than three EDs are reporting
location information (i.e., determination block 3503 = "No"), in determination
block 3505 the AD may determine whether two EDs are reporting location
106
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
information. In response to determining two EDs are reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3505 = "Yes"), in block 3506 the AD may
use the reported waypoints for both EDs and select the two highest ranked
previously reported waypoints for t=t-1 and/or t=t-2 (for any reporting ED in
the
database) to obtain a total of four waypoints. The AD may provide these four
waypoints to the kalman filter in block 3510.
[0319] In response to determining that fewer than two EDs are reporting
location information (i.e., determination block 3505 = "No"), in determination
block 3507 the AD may determine whether one ED is reporting location
information. In response to determining that one ED is reporting location
information (i.e., determination block 3507 = "Yes"), in block 3508 the AD may
use the reported waypoint and the three highest ranked previously reported
waypoints for t=t-1 and/or t=t-2 for the any EDs in the database to obtain a
total
of four waypoints. The AD may provide these four waypoints to the kalman
filter in block 3510.
[0320] In response to determining no EDs are reporting location information,
(i.e., determination block 3505 = "No"), in block 3509 the AD may retrieve the
four highest ranked waypoints, and provides these four waypoints to a kalman
filter in block 3510.
103211 The kalman filter in block 3510 may be used to generate an external
trilateration determined position 3511 for time period 0 (t=0). This value may
be
fed as input to the fusion trilaterion process 3512 to generate filtered LBS
data
(e.g., a filtered LBS estimate value, etc.). The kalman filter 3510 may be a
procedure, algorithm, method, technique, or sequence of operations for
accomplishing the function of a kalman filter.
107
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0322] All the reporting EDs may be compared to each other, ranked prior to
being sent to a kalman filter with the appropriate matrix and weighting
factors.
[0323] The trilateration operations discussed above with reference to FIGs. 32-
35 may be performed/conducted for various sources. The fusion trilateration
operations discussed above enable the device to generate more robust
position/location information having high confidence values (e.g., for
accuracy,
precision, etc.).
[0324] FIG. 36 illustrates a method 3600 of performing fusion trilateration
operations using information from external and internal sources. In block
3601,
an anchor mobile device (AD) may receive information from external sources,
including include GPS data, Cell ID, WiFiID, Beacon/RFID and other data from
external position sources. In block 3602, the AD may determine whether a
waypoint or location information has been reported by a specific device having
a
source type. In response to determining that at least one waypoint or location
information has been reported (i.e., determination block 3603 = "Yes"), in
block
3604 the AD may select the received information (for t=0). In response to
determining that a waypoint or location information has not been reported
(i.e.,
determination block 3603 = "No"), in block 3605 the AD may retrieve and use
previous reported locations from memory (similar to the operations discussed
above with reference to block 3313). If more than the required number of
waypoints have been reported (and stored in memory), the AD may select and
use the waypoints/location information with the highest ranks in block 3606 as
the location information. Alternatively, the if no valid previous locations
have
been reported, the AD could elect to not use data from that device, but rather
use
dead reckoning position information and/or external trilateration positioning
information to select location information in block 3606.
108
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0325] If the ED is reporting valid location information to AD, it is ranked
according to previously received location information for that device. If no
previous location information has been received, the most current valid
location
information being received is used. If the current reported location
information
is ranked highest, it is used as the location information and stored in the
location
information database. If previous location information has been received and
the
ranking of the current received location information is lower than the
previous
information, the highest ranked previously reported location information is
used
[0326] Having received the location reporting devices from external devices,
if
any external trilateration position information is received, all location
information is synchronized for time values in block 3607, by any means
discussed above or below, with the dead reckoning data from the AD. If in
block
3608, only one valid position is available, that location information is
stored by
the AD as the location for the AD. If more than one valid position is
reported,
these are ranked from best to worse as described previously regarding
confidence
values, and the four highest positions are used for input into a kalman
filter. The
output from the kalman filter is stored as the AD's location. If more than
one,
but less than four locations are reported (e.g., similar to discussed above
with
reference to FIG. 35, blocks 3503 and 3504, 3505 and 3506, 3507 and 3508 as
appropriate), for determining the remaining positions to obtain a total of
four
positions in block 3609 and inputting these into the kalman filter in block
3610
and storing the best location (output of the kalman filter) in block 3611.
[0327] In determination block 3612, the AD may determine whether the new
location of AD changed (relative to its previously computed location) more
than
a given distance or percentage value in any axis, or greater than a location
information value. In response to determining that the new location of AD
109
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
changed (relative to its previously computed location) more than a given
distance
or percentage value in any axis (i.e., determination block 3612 = "Yes"), the
trilateration process may be continued or repeated in block 2614 to obtain a
more
precise location information. If there is no change or the change is less than
a
certain percentage (i.e., determination block 3612 = "No"), the AD may wait
for
a set amount of time (T) to obtain any changes in location in block 3613. The
procedure can also mark the AD as stationary and wait until a change is
reported
by any reporting device, external trilateration information, or internal
sensors or
components that can be used for dead reckoning.
[0328] As part of the process involving external device trilateration, the use
of
previous positions can be used to achieve the necessary set of points from
which
a three dimension position can be calculated.
[0329] FIG. 37 illustrates a high level diagram showing only two devices for
ease of reading however the concept can easily be extrapolated to having
multiple devices. In FIG. 37, the position of ED(x) 3701 at t=0, ED(x)(t0)
3701
is reported to AD (mobile device 102). At t=0, AD's position is AD(t0). The
range or distance between the two devices is also determined using both a
sounding method as well as RS SI. The range can also be used to determine the
confidence of the position reported which will be in addition to the
confidence
the ED(x) 3701 is reporting about its own location. The vector between the two
units is 1X (0,0). Moving backward to t=t-1, the previous locations were
ED(x)(t-1) 3701 and AD(t-1). The locations moved by ED(x) 3701 is L 0,1 and
for AD (mobile device 102) it is A 0,1. Continuing backwards still to t=t-2,
the
positions are ED(x)(t-2) 3701 and AD(t-2) 102. The movement from t=t-2 to t=t-
1 is L -1,-2 for ED(x) 3701 and A -1,-2 for AD (mobile device 102). Ranging
vectors can be calculated between each location and the times. A vector
between
110
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
AD(t=0) 102 to ED(x)(t-1) 3701 is represented by 1X (-1,0), between AD(t=0)
and ED(x)(t-2) 3701 is 1X (-1,1). The vectors can also be calculated from AD(t-
1) 102 to ED(x)(t-1) 3701 and is represented by 1X (-1,-1) and similarly from
AD(t-1) 102 to ED(x)(t-2) 3701, this being represented by 1X (-2,-1). For AD(t-
2) 102 and ED(x)(t-2) 3701, the vector is 1X (-2,-2). Each location
information
having a confidence value calculated and associated with it is now a waypoint.
WP(0) at t=0, WP(-1) at t=t-1 and WP(-2) at t=t-2. It is appreciated that
other
vectors, not shown, can be calculated such as from AD(t-1) 102 to ED(x)(t0)
3701 and other such combinations.
[0330] FIG. 38 illustrates a method 3800 for determining a location of a
mobile
device via enhanced location based trilateration. Method 3800 may include
receiving, via a processor of the mobile device, location information from one
or
more external devices. The received location information may include a
waypoint from each of the one or more external devices.
[0331] In optional block 3802, a processor in a mobile device may request
location information from internal and external devices, which may be
accomplished by generating and sending a location request message to the
internal/external devices. In some embodiments, the location request message
may request location information that includes coordinate values (e.g., lat
and
long, etc.), an altitude value, and/or a range value. The range value may
include
information that identifies the distance between the mobile device and an
external device (e.g., an external device that sends the location information
in
response to receiving the location request message, etc.). In listen only
mode, or
with regard to beaconing devices, the mobile device may skip the operations in
block 3802 as these may not be necessary to receive the location information.
111
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0332] In block 3804, the processor may receive location information from one
or more external devices. The received location information may include a
waypoint or another unit of information (location information unit) from each
of
a plurality of devices (e.g., the internal and/or external devices). Each
waypoint
may include a coordinate value (e.g., a latitude value, an longitude, etc.),
an
altitude value and a range value. The range value may identify a distance from
a
external device to the mobile device. In some embodiments, if as part of the
operations in block 3804, no location information is received during a first
period
of time (e.g., within a predetermined time period, etc.) or before a timer
expires,
the mobile device may initiate or reinitiate the trilateration operations by
requesting location information from the same or different external devices in
optional block 3802 and/or by resetting the timer and waiting for another set
period of time for a response or location information.
[0333] In block 3806, the processor may determine the validity of each of the
received waypoints and/or perform normalization operations to normalize the
received valid waypoints (or normalize the received location information
timing).
Also in block 3806, the processor may obtain or assign a time value to each
unit
of received information (i.e., to the location information received from each
external device, to each waypoint, etc.), which may accomplished via, or as
part
of, the processor performing any or all of the normalization or
synchronization
operations discussed in this application.
[0334] In block 3808, the processor may determine, compute, or update a range
value for each external device that is reporting location information (e.g.,
for
each external device from which location information was received, for each
waypoint, etc.). For example, in block 3808, the processor may determine or
compute a first range value for a first external device based on the waypoint
from
112
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
the first external device, determine or compute a second range value for a
second
external device based on a second waypoint provided by the second external
device, etc. In an embodiment, the processor may also associate the range
value
with the waypoint that is used to determine that range value, and store the
range
value in relation to waypoint in memory and/or as a data field value in the
waypoint.
[0335] In block 3810, the processor may determine, compute, or calculate a
confidence value for each location information unit (or waypoint) that is
received. In some embodiments, the processor may also associate the confidence
value with the location information unit (or waypoint) for which the
confidence
value was calculated, and determining the validity of each of the one or more
location information in block 3812. In block 3812, the processor may assign an
overall rank and/or a device specific rank to each of the normalized waypoints
(e.g., each location information unit or waypoint received from an external
device, etc.). In block 3814, the processor may determine the validity of each
of
the received waypoints. In block 3816, the processor may store valid location
information in location information database (e.g., as one or more waypoints,
a
current location waypoint, etc.).
[0336] As mentioned above, for valid location information (e.g., waypoints
determined to be valid), the processor may assign an overall ranking and a
device
specific ranking. The overall ranking may be a ranking of the valid location
information (e.g., valid waypoint, etc.) for the location information being
reported by the external device (e.g., the location information included in
the
waypoint, etc.) based on a combination of dead reckoning location information
(e.g., DR data, etc.), all valid and invalid location information (e.g., all
location
information received for that general location or device, etc.), to include
external
113
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
trilateration location information, being reported by external devices and
stored
information/waypoints in the location database for the external devices
reporting
valid and invalid location information The device specific ranking may be a
ranking of location information received by a mobile device for one type of
location information from the external device reporting the type of location
information and the ranking being based on a calculated range and an
associated
confidence value with the location information, to the valid location
information,
and storing the location information and associated data in the location
database
as a waypoint.
[0337] In block 3818, the processor may determine whether the location
database contains at least four valid waypoints (or four valid location
information
units identifying four locations, etc.). In an embodiment, if fewer than four
waypoints are stored in the location database, the mobile device may repeat
the
location determination operations discussed above until it determines that the
location database stores at least four valid waypoints. In response to
determining
that there are fewer than four valid way points (i.e., determination block
3818
"No"), in block 3802, the processor may initiate another request for location
information from internal and external devices.
[0338] If there are four waypoints in the location database (i.e.,
determination
block 3818 "Yes"), in block 3820 the processor may select four of the highest
ranked waypoints from memory based on a combination of the overall ranking,
device-specific ranking, confidence value, precision value, range value, etc.
associated with each waypoint (e.g., the four highest overall ranked
waypoints)
and apply the selected waypoints to a kalman filter to generate output in the
form
of updated location information (or more precise location information). In an
embodiment, the processor may store the output of the kalman filter as the
114
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
currently location of the mobile device. In block 3822, the processor may
assign
a confidence value (and/or ranking or precision values) to the output of
kalman
filter. In block 3824, the processor may report output location from kalman
filter
as the location of the mobile device.
[0339] The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are
provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or
imply
that the blocks of the various embodiments must be performed in the order
presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of
blocks in
the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as
"thereafter," "then," "next," etc. are not intended to limit the order of the
blocks;
these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the
methods. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for
example,
using the articles "a," "an" or "the" is not to be construed as limiting the
element
to the singular.
[0340] The various illustrative logical blocks, components, circuits, and
algorithm blocks described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein
may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations
of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and
software,
various illustrative components, blocks, components, circuits, and blocks have
been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such
functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the
particular
application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled
artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each
particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be
interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.
115
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
[0341] The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical
blocks, components, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments
disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose
processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific
integrated
circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable
logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components,
or
any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A
general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative,
the
processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or
state
machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing
devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core,
or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some blocks or methods may be
performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function.
[0342] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be
implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof If
implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more
instructions
or code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium or non-transitory
processor-readable medium. The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein
may be embodied in a processor-executable software component which may
reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage
medium. Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media
may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor.
By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or
processor-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH
memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other
magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store
desired
116
CA 02976775 2017-08-15
WO 2016/115242 PCT/US2016/013235
program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be
accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc
(CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and
blu-
ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs
reproduce
data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within
the
scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media.
Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any
combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-
readable medium and/or computer-readable medium, which may be incorporated
into a computer program product.
[0343] The preceding description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to
enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention.
Various
modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled
in
the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other
embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus,
the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown
herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the following
claims
and the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
117
