Method for updating the database of a geolocation server

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for updating a database of a geolocation server (50) using a wireless communication system (10). The database includes a table associating an identifier of a transmission device (40) with at least one information related to the geographical location of the transmission device (40). The communication system includes an access network (30) and a terminal (20) adapted to communicate with the access network and the transmission device according to two separate protocols. The terminal (20) receives a message sent by the transmission device, including an identifier of the transmission device. The terminal transmits a message with this identifier to the access network. The access network determines information on the geographical location of the terminal. A consistency check is performed between the location information of the terminal determined by the access network and one or more location information present in the table. The table is updated according to the result of the consistency check.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the update of a geolocation server that includes a database associating an identifier of a transmission device (e.g., an access point of a wireless local area network) with the geographical location of the transmission device. The update of the database of the geolocation server is based on using an access network of a wireless communication system based on a communication protocol different from the communication protocol used by the transmission device (the access network is, for example, a wireless wide area network). The access network can independently determine information regarding the geographical location of a terminal communicating with itself.

Background Art

[0002] Currently, there are several geolocation information systems based on a database associating an identifier of a transmission device (e.g., a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth access point) with the geographical location of the transmission device.

[0003] In such a geolocation information system, a terminal receives a message including the identifier of the transmission device on a beacon signal transmitted by the transmission device. Then, the terminal transmits an inquiry message to the geolocation server. The inquiry message includes the identifier of the transmission device. The geolocation server includes a database with a table associating the identifier of the transmission device and the corresponding geographical location of the transmission device. The geolocation server can then determine the geographical location associated with the transmission device and then transmit this information to the terminal in a response message. The geographical location of the transmission device corresponds to the estimated geographical location of the terminal.

[0004] The geographical location of the terminal may in some cases be refined according to the power level at which the terminal received the beacon signal. Furthermore, the geographical location of the terminal can be estimated according to the geographical locations of several different transmission devices whose beacon signals the terminal received at a given point in time.

[0005] A major challenge for providers of such geolocation information systems is keeping the database up-to-date. In reality, the geographical location of transmission devices can change over time, and in this case, the database should be updated to ensure that the association between the identifier of a transmission device and its geographical location remains correct. Also, new transmission devices not recorded in the database may appear over time, and in this case, the database should be updated by adding the identifier of the new transmission device along with its associated location information.

[0006] When a terminal sends a query message containing a considerable number of identifiers (e.g., at least four or five) from several different transmission devices that received a beacon signal at a given time, it is possible to detect whether a geographic location associated with one of the identifiers is inconsistent with geographic locations associated with other identifiers. If inconsistent, the geographic location associated with the identifier inconsistent can be corrected in the table. The geographic location inconsistent may be corrected according to other geographic locations that are consistent with each other.

[0007] Nevertheless, such solutions do not work when only a few identifiers (for example, one or two) are sent in the query message. This is generally the case when communication between a terminal and a geolocation server is supported by slow, low-power networks, such as IoT (Internet of Things) type networks or M2M (Machine To Machine) type networks.

[0008] Another solution for updating the database may involve periodically setting up update campaigns in which calibration terminals equipped with positioning systems (e.g., GPS receivers) are moved across the target area to send messages to a geolocation server containing both the identifier of the transmission device and the geographic location of the calibration terminal. Nevertheless, such solutions are particularly costly and generally do not allow for frequent and comprehensive updates. [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0009] The object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, in particular all or part of the shortcomings described herein. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] To achieve this objective, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for updating a database of a geolocation information server using a wireless communication system. The database includes a table that stores identifiers of transmission devices, each identifier of a transmission device associated in the table with at least one location information representing the geographic location of the transmission device. The wireless communication system includes an access network and at least one terminal adapted to exchange messages with the access network according to a first wireless communication protocol and to receive messages transmitted by a transmission device according to a second wireless communication protocol. The method is as follows: - With respect to at least one transmission device, the terminal detects the identifier of the transmission device from a message transmitted by the transmission device in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol, - The terminal sends a message containing the identifier of the transmission device to the access network in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol, - The access network determines location information representing the geographic location of the terminal without using a geolocation server. It is equipped with.

[0011] In this case, alternative forms arise depending on whether the identifier of the transmission device detected by the terminal and received by the access network exists or does not exist in the database table of the geolocation server. The method implements at least one of the following two possibilities associated with this alternative form. -When the identifier of the transmission device exists in the table, ○The access network performs consistency checks between the terminal location information determined by the access network and at least one location information in the table associated with the transmission device identifier. ○Update the table according to the results of the consistency check. -When the identifier for the transmission device does not exist in the table, ○ The table is updated by adding the identifier of the transmission device associated with the location information determined according to the terminal location information determined by the access network.

[0012] Advantageously, the present invention is based on the fact that an access network can independently determine information regarding the geographic location of a terminal (i.e., without using a geolocation server).

[0013] If the identifier for a transmission device does not exist in the table, the access network may add the identifier for the transmission device associated with the location information to the table based on the terminal's location information determined by the access network.

[0014] If a transmission device identifier exists in the table, the access network may use the terminal location information determined by the access network to verify the validity of at least one location entry associated with the transmission device in the geolocation server's table. The transmission device location entry in the geolocation server's table is considered valid if the terminal location information determined by the access network is consistent with the transmission device location entry in the geolocation server's table. The terminal location information determined by the access network and the location entry associated with the transmission device identifier in the table are considered consistent if they represent geographically close locations. The geolocation server's table can then be updated to, for example, enable, disable, or correct the transmission device location entry according to the consistency check. The consistency check may be performed by either the access network or the geolocation server.

[0015] In this way, the database of the geolocation information server may be updated by adding a new element (when the element does not exist in the table) and / or by modifying an element (when the element already exists in the table) based on the terminal location information determined by the access network.

[0016] Location information may directly correspond to a geographical location (for example, defined by a set of longitude, latitude, and possibly altitude coordinates). Nevertheless, location information may also correspond to contextual information, i.e., parameters that allow the geographical location of the transmission device to be estimated (such as an index, address, store name, area, region name, or country name).

[0017] Advantageously, even if the terminal does not send a message to determine its geographic location, the access network may use the messages the terminal sends to the access network to update the geolocation server's database. As a result, the access network provider can provide the geolocation server provider with a maintenance service for the geolocation server's database based on messages exchanged between the terminal and the access network, for a service that may be completely independent of the geolocation services provided by the geolocation server. Specifically, this means that the geolocation server does not necessarily send a response after receiving a message containing the identifier of the transmission device.

[0018] The present invention finds particularly advantageous, but not limited, applications for low-speed, low-power extended access networks, such as IoT or M2M type networks.

[0019] In certain implementations, the present invention may further include, separately or in any technically feasible combination, one or more of the following possible features:

[0020] In certain implementations, the step to verify consistency is: - A step of transmitting, by an access network, a message including the location information of a terminal and an identifier of a transmission device determined by the access network to a geographical location information server; - A step of determining, by the geographical location information server, the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in a table; - A step of comparing, by the geographical location information server, the location information of the terminal determined by the access network with the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table is included.

[0021] In a specific implementation form, the step of checking consistency is - A step of transmitting, by the access network, an inquiry message including the identifier of the transmission device to the geographical location information server; - A step of determining, by the geographical location information server, the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table; - A step of transmitting, by the geographical location information server, a response message including the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table to the access network; - A step of comparing, by the access network, the location information of the terminal determined by the access network with the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table is included.

[0022] In a specific implementation form, the step of comparing the location information of the terminal determined by the access network with the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table is - A step of estimating a first geographical location from the location information of the terminal determined by the access network; - A step of estimating a second geographical location from the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table; - A step of comparing the distance between the first geographical location and the second geographical location with a threshold value is included.

[0023] In a particular implementation, the step of comparing the terminal location information determined by the access network with the at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device is: - A step of determining a first value representing the level of accuracy of the estimate of the first geographic location, and / or - A step of determining a second value that represents the level of accuracy of the estimate of the second geographic location, The threshold is further defined according to the first value and / or the second value.

[0024] In a particular implementation, the step of updating the table according to the results of the consistency check includes replacing in the table the at least one location information associated with the transmission device with the location information of the terminal determined by the access network.

[0025] In a particular implementation, the table may contain at least two location records associated with the same transmission device, each of which is also associated with a confidence value representing the confidence given to the location record with respect to the transmission device. The step of updating the table in accordance with the results of consistency checks includes adding associations in the table between the location records of the transmission device and the terminal determined by the access network, and / or updating the confidence values ​​in the table for different location records associated with the transmission device.

[0026] In certain implementations, steps such as verifying consistency and updating tables are delayed until certain criteria are met.

[0027] In certain implementations, certain criteria are met when a predetermined waiting time has elapsed and / or when the number of received messages containing the identifier of at least one transmission device exceeds a predetermined threshold and / or when the number of received transmission device identifiers exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[0028] In a specific implementation, the access network receives several identifiers of different transmission devices detected by the terminal, either in a single message or in several messages sent by the terminal, over a predetermined period. The step of verifying the integrity of at least one of the received identifiers, the so-called "identifier of interest," is as follows: - A step of determining location information from location information associated in a table with multiple identifiers among the received identifiers, wherein the identifier of interest is included among the multiple identifiers, -The first consistency check between the location information determined in this way and the location information of the terminal determined by the access network, -If the first consistency check shows an inconsistency, a second consistency check is performed between the location information associated with the identifier of interest in the table and the terminal location information determined by the access network. It is equipped with.

[0029] In certain implementations, the first wireless communication protocol has a wider range than the second wireless communication protocol.

[0030] In certain implementations, the first wireless communication protocol is a communication protocol for a wireless wide-area network or a communication protocol for a low-power wireless wide-area network.

[0031] In certain implementations, the second wireless communication protocol is a wireless local area network communication protocol, a wireless personal area network communication protocol, or a short-range communication protocol.

[0032] In a second aspect, the present invention relates to a server of an access network of a communications system used to update a database of a geolocation information server. The database includes a table that stores identifiers of transmission devices, each identifier of a transmission device associated in the table with at least one location information representing the geographic location of the transmission device. The wireless communication system also includes at least one terminal adapted to exchange messages with the access network according to a first wireless communication protocol and to receive messages transmitted by the transmission devices according to a second wireless communication protocol. The server of the access network is configured to implement any one of the implementation forms already described. In detail, the server is configured -Receive a message transmitted by the terminal in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol, which includes at least one identifier of a transmission device detected by the terminal. - Determine location information representing the geographic location of the terminal without using a geolocation server. - Send a query message containing the identifier of the transmission device to the geolocation server. It is configured in this way.

[0033] Alternative forms arise depending on whether the identifier of the transmission device detected by the terminal and received by the access network exists or does not exist in the database tables of the geolocation server. The server is configured to implement one or both of the following possible alternative forms: -When the identifier of the transmission device exists in the table, ○Receive a response message from the geolocation server that includes at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device in the table, ○The access network performs consistency verification between the terminal location information determined by the access network and the at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device. ○Send a message intending to update the table according to the results of the consistency check. -When the identifier for the transmission device does not exist in the table, ○ A message is sent that intends to add the identifier of the transmission device associated with the location information determined according to the terminal location information determined by the access network to the table.

[0034] In a third aspect, the present invention relates to an access network including a server as already described.

[0035] In certain implementations, the access network is a wireless wide-area network or a low-power wireless wide-area network.

[0036] In certain implementations, the access network is the access network for an ultra-narrowband communication system.

[0037] The present invention will be better understood by reading the following description, which is presented as an example without limitation and with reference to Figures 1 to 5. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0038] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a wireless communication system used to update a geolocation information server. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the terminal. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram of the main steps involved in updating a geolocation server. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of the main steps of a first specific implementation of a method for updating a geolocation server. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of the main steps of a second specific implementation of a method for updating a geolocation server. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0039] In these figures, the same reference number in each figure refers to the same or similar element. For clarity, the elements shown are not necessarily drawn to the same scale unless otherwise specified.

[0040] Figure 1 schematically shows a wireless communication system 10 that includes at least one terminal 20 and an access network 30 including several base stations 31.

[0041] Terminal 20 is adapted to send messages to the access network 30 over the uplink. Each base station 31 is adapted to receive messages from terminal 20 when the terminal is within the reach of the base station 31. By convention, messages sent by terminal 20 include the identifier of terminal 20. For example, each message received by a base station is transmitted to a server 32 on the access network 30, along with other information such as the identifier of the base station 31 that received the message, the received power level of the received message, the time of arrival of the message, and the frequency at which the message was received. For example, server 32 processes all messages received from different base stations 31.

[0042] The wireless communication system 10 may be unidirectional, that is, it may only allow message exchange over the uplink from terminal 20 to access network 30. However, other examples do not rule out the possibility of bidirectional exchange. Where applicable, access network 30 may also be adapted to send messages over the downlink to terminal 20 adapted to receive messages, via base station 31.

[0043] The exchange of uplink messages destined for access network 30 uses the first wireless communication protocol.

[0044] In certain embodiments, the first wireless communication protocol is a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) communication protocol. For example, the first wireless communication protocol is a standardized communication protocol of the type such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced Pro, or 5G.

[0045] Instead, the first wireless communication protocol is the Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) communication protocol. Such wireless communication systems are long-distance access networks (longer than 1 kilometer, or even tens of kilometers) with low energy consumption (for example, energy consumption during message transmission or reception is less than 100mW, sometimes less than 50mW, or even less than 25mW), and data transfer rates are generally lower than 1 Mbps. Examples of LPWAN networks that are sometimes mentioned include Sigfox, LoRaWAN, Ingenu, Amazon Sidewalk, and Helium. Such wireless communication systems are more specifically suited to IoT-type or M2M-type applications.

[0046] For example, the first wireless communication protocol is a proprietary ultra-narrowband communication protocol. It should be understood that "ultra-narrowband" (UNB) means that the instantaneous frequency spectrum of the radio frequency signal transmitted by the terminal has a frequency width of less than 2 kilohertz, and in some cases less than 1 kilohertz.

[0047] In IoT or M2M type communication systems, data exchange is essentially unidirectional, in this case unidirectional, over the uplink from terminal 20 to the access network 30 of the wireless communication system 10. To minimize the risk of losing messages transmitted by terminal 20, the access network is often planned so that a given geographical area is simultaneously covered by several base stations 31, and as a result, several base stations 31 can receive messages transmitted by terminal 20.

[0048] As illustrated in Figure 1, terminal 20 is also adapted to receive messages transmitted by at least one transmission device 40 located near terminal 20. Messages transmitted by transmission device 40 use a second wireless communication protocol different from the first wireless communication protocol. Note that transmission device 40 may be completely independent of the wireless communication system 10 and is not required to support the first wireless communication protocol.

[0049] In certain embodiments, the second wireless communication protocol has a narrower range than the first wireless communication protocol. In such cases, the geographical location of the transmission device 40, where the terminal 20 is located within the transmission device 40's range, provides more accurate information with respect to the geographical location of the terminal 20 than, for example, the geographical location of the base station 31 that receives the message transmitted by the terminal 20. If the first wireless communication protocol is a wireless wide-area network communication protocol, the second wireless communication protocol is, for example, a wireless local area network communication protocol ("Wireless Local Area Network," WLAN), such as a Wi-Fi type (IEEE 802.11 standard), or a wireless personal area network communication protocol ("Wireless Personal Area Network," WPAN), such as a Bluetooth type or BLE ("Bluetooth Low Energy") type. In yet another example, the second wireless communication protocol may be a short-range communication protocol based on, for example, NFC technology ("Near Field Communication") or RFID technology ("Radio Frequency Identification").

[0050] However, it should be noted that, as other examples show, it is also possible to have a second wireless communication protocol whose range is no less than that of the first wireless communication protocol.

[0051] The geolocation information server 50 includes a database containing a table that stores identifiers of the transmission devices 40. Each identifier of a transmission device 40 is associated in the table with at least one location information representing the geographic location of the transmission device 40.

[0052] For example, the identifier of the transmission device 40 corresponds to the MAC address of the transmission device 40 (MAC is an acronym for "Media Access Control"). Nevertheless, other parameters such as SSID (an acronym for "Service Set Identifier"), BSSID (an acronym for "Base Service Set Identifier"), the identifier of a Bluetooth or BLE access point, or the identifier of an RFID tag may serve as identifiers for the transmission device 40.

[0053] Location information may directly consist of the coordinates (longitude, latitude, and possibly altitude) of the geographical location of the transmission device 40. Nevertheless, location information may also consist of contextual information that enables the estimation of the geographical location of the terminal 20 or the geographical location of the transmission device 40, such as an address, store name, area, region name, or country name.

[0054] For example, the geolocation information server 50 is connected to the server 32 of the access network 30 via an internet connection.

[0055] When terminal 20 is within range of the second wireless communication protocol, it can receive a message from transmission device 40 containing the identifier of transmission device 40. Subsequently, terminal 20 can send a query message to geolocation information server 50 via access network 30. The query message contains the identifier of transmission device 40. The geolocation information server 50 can then determine the geographic location associated with transmission device 40. It can then use the geographic location of transmission device 40 to estimate the estimated geographic location of terminal.

[0056] Figure 2 schematically shows an embodiment of terminal 20.

[0057] As illustrated in Figure 2, the terminal 20 includes a first communication module 21 adapted to exchange messages with the base station 31 according to a first wireless communication protocol. For example, the first communication module 21 takes the form of a radio frequency circuit including equipment (antenna, amplifier, local oscillator, mixer, analog filter, etc.).

[0058] Terminal 20 also includes a second communication module 22 adapted to receive messages transmitted by the transmission device 40 of interest, in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol. For example, the second communication module 22 takes the form of a radio frequency circuit including equipment (antenna, amplifier, local oscillator, mixer, analog filter, etc.).

[0059] Furthermore, the terminal 20 also includes a processing circuit 23 connected to a first communication module 21 and a second communication module 22. For example, the processing circuit 23 includes one or more processors and storage means (such as a magnetic hard disk, electronic memory, or optical disk) for storing a computer program product in the form of a set of program code instructions to be executed to implement several steps (to be referred to herein) of a method for updating the database of a geolocation information server.

[0060] Each of the access network 30's server 32 and geolocation information server 50 also includes one or more processors and storage means for storing a computer program product in the form of a set of code instruction programs to be executed to implement several steps (to be referred to herein) of a method for updating the geolocation information server's database.

[0061] Figure 3 schematically shows the main steps of method 100 for updating the geolocation information server 50.

[0062] More specifically, method 100 includes step 101 of detecting the identifier of at least one transmission device 40 from a message transmitted by the transmission device 40 in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol, with respect to the terminal 20. The message includes the identifier of the transmission device 40. For example, the message is transmitted by the transmission device 40 by beacon signal broadcast to all terminals in the vicinity of the transmission device 40 within the reach of the second communication protocol.

[0063] Subsequently, method 100 includes step 102 of the terminal 20 sending a message containing the identifier of the transmission device 40 to the access network 30. This message is transmitted according to a first wireless communication protocol.

[0064] Subsequently, method 100 includes step 103, which determines location information representing the geographic location of terminal 20 using the access network 30 without using the geolocation server 50.

[0065] The location information of terminal 20 may directly consist of the coordinates (longitude, latitude, and possibly altitude) of the estimated geographical location of terminal 20. Nevertheless, the location information of terminal 20 may also consist of contextual information that allows for the estimation of the approximate geographical location of terminal 20, such as an address, store name, district, region name, or country name. This contextual information may be obtained from parameters contained in a message received from terminal 20. For example, if the access network knows that terminal 20 belongs to an operator that operates only in a specific region or country, the identifier of this terminal can be used to determine which region or country terminal 20 is located in.

[0066] For example, the access network 30 is configured to estimate the geographical location of terminal 20 based on a message received from terminal 20. In certain implementations, the geographical location is estimated from a received message that includes the identifier of the transmission device 40. However, other examples do not rule out the possibility of estimating the geographical location of terminal 20 from other messages previously transmitted by terminal 20.

[0067] In general, any method for estimating geographical location may be implemented, and choosing a particular method constitutes only one variation of the implementation of the present invention. For example, the access network 30 may estimate the geographical location of terminal 20 by assuming it is the geographical location of the base station 31 that received the message transmitted by terminal 20. If several base stations 31 can receive the message transmitted by terminal 20, the geographical location of terminal 20 can be estimated according to the geographical locations of all the base stations 31 that received the message transmitted by terminal 20 (for example, by defining the centroid of these geographical locations).

[0068] In another example, the access network 30 can estimate the distance from one or more base stations 31 to terminal 20 by calculating the propagation time of a message transmitted by terminal 20 to base station 31 from TOA measurements of the message at different base stations 31, or from measurements of the Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA). Subsequently, if the geographical location of base station 31 is known, the location of terminal 20 can be estimated by multilateration.

[0069] In another example, regarding a message sent by terminal 20 to the access network 30, the location of terminal 20 can be estimated by multilatency by determining the distance from several base stations 31 to terminal 20 based on RSSI measurements for each base station 31.

[0070] In yet another example, the method by which the access network 30 estimates the geographical location of terminal 20 may be based on a machine learning technique that associates geographical locations with fingerprints in a geographical area under consideration. Such a method is based on the assumption that the received power level by base station 31 is stable over time with respect to messages transmitted by terminal 20 located at a given geographical location. Specifically, this method involves, during a first calibration phase, building a database for a set of base stations 31 that associates "radio signatures" corresponding to all RSSI measurements obtained for terminal 20 at a geographical location under consideration with known geographical locations. Then, during a search phase, the radio signatures observed for terminal 20 whose approximate geographical location should be estimated are compared with all radio signatures in the database in order to estimate the approximate geographical location of terminal 20 from one or more geographical locations corresponding to one or more radio signatures that are most similar to the radio signature of terminal 20.

[0071] In certain implementations, the geographical location of terminal 20 is estimated by the access network 30 without the terminal sending any explicit information contributing to this estimation in messages addressed to the access network (in other words, the terminal does not send messages to the access network that contain binary data containing information that would allow the terminal's geographical location to be estimated). Such a mechanism allows for the geographical location of terminal 20 to be determined by limiting the amount of data exchanged between the terminal and the access network.

[0072] In certain implementations, the location information of terminal 20 is determined by the access network 30 from data contained in the received message. For example, if terminal 20 is static (i.e., terminal 20 can be considered to always be located at the same address), the access network 30 can store a table associating the terminal identifier with the address where terminal 20 is located. If the message sent by terminal 20 contains the identifier of terminal 20, the access network 30 can determine the location information of terminal 20 as the address associated with this identifier.

[0073] Next, an alternative form 110 arises depending on whether the identifier of the transmission device 40 detected by terminal 20 and received by access network 30 already exists in the table of geolocation information server 50. Method 100 implements at least one of the two possibilities associated with this alternative form 110.

[0074] If the identifier of the transmission device 40 detected by terminal 20 and received by access network 30 does not yet exist in the table, the method includes step 106 of updating the table by adding the identifier of the transmission device 40 associated with location information determined according to the location information of terminal 20 determined by access network 30. The location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40 may directly correspond to the location information of terminal 20. Nevertheless, the location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40 may also be determined according to other factors. In detail, a message sent by terminal 20 that includes the identifier of the transmission device 40 may include other identifiers of the transmission device detected by terminal 20. If these other identifiers exist in the table, the location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40 may also be determined according to location information associated with other identifiers present in the table.

[0075] For example, to trigger this update 106 to the table in the geolocation server 50, the server 32 of the access network 30 sends a message intended to add the identifier of the transmission device 40 and the location information associated with it. This message may be sent directly to the geolocation server 50 or to an intermediate entity responsible for maintaining the table in the geolocation server 50.

[0076] If the identifier of the transmission device 40 detected by terminal 20 and received by access network 30 already exists in the table, method 100 includes step 104 to verify the consistency between the location information of terminal 20 determined by access network 30 and at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of transmission device 40. With respect to the location information in the table associated with the identifier of transmission device 40, the location information of terminal 20 determined by access network 30 and the location information in the table associated with the identifier of transmission device 40 are considered to be consistent with each other if they represent geographically close locations.

[0077] More specifically, this consistency verification step 104 may include a step of comparing the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 with the location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40 in the table (see below for steps 204 and 304). For example, this comparison step is: - A step of estimating a first geographical location obtained from the location information of terminal 20 determined by the access network, - A step of estimating a second geographical location from location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40 in the table, - A step of comparing the distance between the first geographical location and the second geographical location with a threshold. It may include.

[0078] In certain implementations, this comparison step is, - A step of determining a first value representing the level of accuracy of the estimate of the first geographic location, and / or - A step of determining a second value that represents the level of accuracy of the estimate of the second geographic location. It may further include the following.

[0079] For example, these values ​​representing the level of accuracy correspond to the radius of a circular area centered on the estimated geographical location, and with respect to the estimated geographical location, terminal 20 is estimated to be located inside the circular area at a predetermined probability level. Then, a threshold can be defined according to the first value and / or the second value.

[0080] For example, if P1 represents a first geographic location estimated from the location information of terminal 20 determined by access network 30, R1 represents a value representing the level of accuracy of the estimate of the first geographic location (a radius centered on the first geographic location where the terminal is considered to exist with a certain probability level, e.g., 90%), P2 represents a second geographic location estimated from the geographic location associated with the identifier of transmission device 40 in the table, R2 represents a value representing the level of accuracy of the estimate of the second geographic location, and dist(P1,P2) represents the distance between P1 and P2, then the result of consistency verification step 104 can be determined according to the following formula. dist(P1,P2)≦f(R1,R2) (Formula 1) If this formula is incorrect, there is an inconsistency between the location information of terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 and the location information associated with the identifier of transmission device 40 in the table. On the other hand, if this formula is correct, the location information of terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 is consistent with the location information associated with the identifier of transmission device 40 in the table. As an unspecified example, function f may be defined by the following formula (the results of functions dist and f are, for example, values ​​in meters). f(R1,R2)=3×(R1+R2)+500 (Formula 2)

[0081] If the location information is contextual and not a direct geographical location, the contextual information representing the terminal's location as determined by the access network 30 may be compared with contextual information associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40 in a table. This comparison may be implemented using a reverse geocoding type application if necessary.

[0082] Using contextual information is particularly advantageous when the time at which terminal 20 receives the identifier of transmission device 40 and the time at which terminal transmits a message containing the identifier to access network 30 are different (this may occur when data integrity processing reconstructs a message that the access network did not receive during the first transmission).

[0083] It should also be noted that the message sent by terminal 20 to the access network 30 may include several identifiers of transmission devices 40 detected by terminal 20 at the time of proximity (or terminal 20 may send several messages at the time of proximity, each message containing an identifier of a different transmission device 40). In such cases, the contextual information associated with the transmission device identifier may correspond to knowledge of identifiers of other transmission devices detected at the time of proximity (and therefore likely located nearby). For example, if terminal 20 sends a message containing three identifiers of different transmission devices detected at the time of proximity, and terminal 20's location information is considered consistent with the location information in the table for only two of the three transmission devices, it is possible to conclude that the location information for the third transmission device is inconsistent and should be updated.

[0084] If the access network 30 receives several identifiers of different transmission devices 40 detected by terminal 20 in the same message (or in several messages transmitted at close range), then with respect to at least one of the received identifiers, referred to as the "identifier of interest," the integrity verification step 104 performs the following: - A step of determining location information from location information associated in a table with multiple identifiers among the received identifiers, wherein the identifier of interest is included in the step of the multiple identifiers, -The first consistency check between the location information determined in this way and the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30, -If the first consistency check shows an inconsistency, a second consistency check is performed between the location information associated with the identifier of interest in the table and the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30. It may be provided.

[0085] In other words, the location information of terminal 20 is first compared with one or more location information determined for one or more tuples of identifiers constructed from the received identifiers. Next, a first consistency check is performed between the location information of terminal 20 estimated without the geolocation server 50 and one or more location information determined by the geolocation server 50 obtained from the aforementioned tuples of identifiers. If an inconsistency is found, a second consistency check and, if applicable, correction may be performed for each identifier in the tuple being considered. Note that additional information may be used to weight the corrections for different identifiers constituting the tuple. For example, this additional information may correspond to the power level at which terminal 20 received different messages containing identifiers originating from different detected transmission devices 40.

[0086] In detail, such a mechanism may reduce the number of requests sent to the geolocation server 50 (in the first step, one single request containing multiple identifiers is sent to the geolocation server, and individual requests relating to one single identifier are sent only if an inconsistency is observed between the location information of the terminal 20 and the location information determined by the geolocation server 50 from the multiple identifiers). In detail, this may prove useful when the access network 30 performs integrity checks (for example, when it cannot provide the location information of the terminal 20 to the geolocation server 50 for reasons related to personal data protection).

[0087] Finally, method 100 includes step 105, which updates the table according to the results of the consistency check. If the results of consistency check step 104 indicate that the location information in the table of the geolocation server 50 is inconsistent with the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 (for example, if the distance between the two locations is greater than a threshold), the location information in the table should be corrected. Otherwise, the location information in the table can be made valid.

[0088] According to the first example, if the result of verification step 104 indicates an inconsistency, update step 105 involves replacing the location information associated with the transmission device 40 in the table with the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30.

[0089] In another example, if the result of verification step 104 indicates an inconsistency, update step 105 involves invalidating the location information associated with the transmission device 40 in the table.

[0090] In another example, the table may contain at least two location entries associated with the same transmission device 40, each of which is also associated with a confidence value representing the confidence given to the location entry with respect to the transmission device 40. The update step 105 may then include adding an association between the location entry of the terminal 20 determined by the transmission device 40 and the access network 30 (if this association does not already exist in the table), and / or updating the confidence values ​​of different location entries associated with the transmission device. For example, if the result of the verification step 104 indicates an inconsistency, the confidence value associated with the location entry of the terminal 20 determined by the access network is greater than the confidence value associated with the location entry in the table that was considered inconsistent.

[0091] For example, the confidence value associated with the location information of the transmission device 40 is determined according to the number of times the location information was considered consistent. Such a mechanism makes it possible to gradually increase the confidence given to the location information over time.

[0092] The confidence values ​​associated with the position information of the transmission device 40 may also be defined according to the estimated level of accuracy of the position information (for example, according to the values ​​R1 and / or R2 already described).

[0093] The confidence value associated with the location information of the transmission device 40 may also be defined according to the last update date of the location information (the more recent this update, the higher the confidence value may be).

[0094] Advantageously, when several location data are associated with the same transmission device 40, it is possible to increase the accuracy of estimating the location of the transmission device 40 by aggregating consistent but slightly different location data (e.g., location data with a confidence value greater than a given threshold) through an estimate (e.g., through the centroid or median).

[0095] If the identifiers of one or more transmission devices detected by terminal 20 and received by access network 30 at the time of proximity are not included in the geolocation information server 50, the geolocation information server 50 receives one or more unknown identifiers and inserts one or more identifiers into the table (step 106). Each of these identifiers is then associated with location information.

[0096] If several identifiers have been received and some of them exist in a table, the location information for unknown identifiers can be estimated using the location information associated with the identifiers that exist in the table. The terminal's location information can then be used to verify consistency (in a manner similar to that already described for consistency verification step 104 and update step 105), and / or to refine the location information thus estimated from known identifiers.

[0097] If none of the received identifiers exist in the table, in other words, if all of the received identifiers are unknown, the terminal location information determined by the access network can be associated with each unknown identifier inserted into the table.

[0098] Figure 4 schematically illustrates the key steps of a first specific implementation of method 200 for updating a geolocation server 50 when the identifier of a transmission device 40 detected by terminal 20 and received by access network 30 already exists in the table.

[0099] In this particular implementation, steps 101-105 are identical to the steps described above in this specification with reference to Figure 3. Nevertheless, consistency verification step 104 will be described in detail.

[0100] The consistency verification step 104 first includes step 201, in which the access network 30 sends a message to the geolocation information server 50 containing the location information of the terminal 20 and the identifier of the transmission device 40 determined by the access network 30. This step is implemented by the server 32 of the access network 30.

[0101] Subsequently, the consistency verification step 104 includes step 202 in which the geolocation information server 50 determines one or more location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40.

[0102] Subsequently, consistency verification step 104 includes step 203 in which the geolocation information server 50 compares the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 with one or more location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40. In this case, step 105, which updates the table, may be fully implemented by the geolocation information server 50 according to the result of comparison step 203 performed by the geolocation information server 50 and using the location information of the terminal 20.

[0103] Figure 5 schematically illustrates the key steps of a second specific implementation of method 300 for updating a geolocation server 50 when the identifier of a transmission device 40 detected by terminal 20 and received by access network 30 already exists in the table.

[0104] In this particular implementation, steps 101-105 are identical to the steps described above in this specification with reference to Figure 3. Nevertheless, step 104, which verifies consistency, will be described in detail.

[0105] Firstly, consistency verification step 104 includes step 301 of sending a query message containing the identifier of the transmission device to the geolocation information server 50 via the access network 30.

[0106] Subsequently, the consistency verification step 104 includes a step 302 in which the geolocation information server 50 determines one or more location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40.

[0107] Subsequently, step 104, which verifies consistency, includes step 303, in which the geolocation server 50 sends a response message to the access network 30 containing one or more location information entries in a table associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40.

[0108] Subsequently, the consistency verification step 104 includes a step 304 in which the access network 30 compares the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 with one or more location pieces in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40.

[0109] In the example under consideration, for this second specific implementation, steps 301, sending a query message, receiving a response message, and 304, comparing the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 with one or more location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device 40, are implemented by the server 32 of the access network 30. To trigger step 105, which updates the table of the geolocation server 50, the server 32 of the access network 30 may send a message intended to update the table. This message may be sent directly to the geolocation server 50 or to an intermediate entity responsible for maintaining the table of the geolocation server 50.

[0110] The present invention has been described above herein in a scenario in which, in response to receiving a message transmitted by terminal 20 containing the identifier of transmission device 40, a consistency check step 104 and a step 105 to update the location information of transmission device 40 in a table are implemented. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the present invention is not necessarily implemented on a message-by-message basis, and the server 32 of the access network 30 may be configured to collect several messages before implementing the consistency check step 104 and update step 105 in detail. In practice, updating the database "continuously" can be complex and costly, and it may be more advantageous to group together the checks and / or corrections that should be performed on the database.

[0111] In other words, consistency check step 104 and step 105 (and possibly step 103 (which determines location information)) may be delayed until a predetermined criterion is met. Specifically, this criterion may correspond to the expiration of a waiting period, the fact that a given number of messages containing the identifier of a transmission device have been received, or the fact that a given number of identifiers for transmission devices have been received (in fact, the same message may contain identifiers for several transmission devices). Nevertheless, considering other criteria, the implementation of consistency check step 104 and step 105 (which checks consistency with respect to several identifiers for different transmission devices) may be delayed and therefore grouped together.

[0112] Furthermore, it is possible to consider delaying the update step 105 relative to the consistency check step 104.

[0113] In other words, it is possible for the server 32 of the access network 30 to send a single message intended to verify the consistency of location information associated with several transmission device identifiers received in several messages received from the system's terminals, and then update the table for all identifiers found to be inconsistent. Different messages received from terminal 20 can be processed individually (one by one) or in bundles of messages (i.e., several messages received over a given period of time can be processed at a given point in time).

[0114] The server 32 of the access network 30 and the geolocation information server 50 may be configured to implement one of the implementation forms already described for the method according to the present invention in order to update the database of the geolocation information server 50.

[0115] In detail, any type of interface may be considered between the server 32 of the access network 30 and the geolocation server 50 to send messages intended to update the table of the geolocation server 50. In detail, it is possible to consider using files, programming interfaces, callback functions, etc., to send information related to updating the table.

[0116] The preceding description herein clearly illustrates how the present invention achieves its intended purpose through its different features and the advantages thereof.

[0117] Advantageously, the present invention is based on the fact that the access network 30 can independently determine information regarding the geographic location of the terminal 20 (i.e., without using the geolocation server 50) in order to verify the validity of the location information of the transmission device 40 in the table of the geolocation server 50. The location information of the transmission device 40 in the table of the geolocation server 50 is considered valid if the location information of the terminal 20 determined by the access network 30 is consistent with the location information of the transmission device 40 in the table of the geolocation server 50. If an inconsistency is then found, the table of the geolocation server 50 can be updated to correct the location information of the transmission device 40.

Claims

1. A method (100, 200, 300) for updating a database of a geolocation information server (50) using a wireless communication system (10), wherein the database includes a table for storing identifiers of transmission devices (40), the identifier of each transmission device (40) is associated in the table with at least one location information representing the geographic location of the transmission device (40), and the wireless communication system (10) includes an access network (30) and at least one terminal (20) adapted to exchange messages with the access network (30) according to a first wireless communication protocol and to receive messages transmitted by the transmission device (40) according to a second wireless communication protocol, and the method (100, 200, 300) is - The terminal (20) detects the identifier of at least one of the transmission devices (40) from a message transmitted by the transmission device (40) in accordance with the second wireless communication protocol (101), - Step (102) of the terminal (20) transmitting a message including the identifier of the transmission device (40) to the access network (30) in accordance with the first wireless communication protocol, - The access network (30) determines location information representing the geographic location of the terminal (20) without using the geolocation information server (50) (103) Includes, The above methods (100, 200, 300) - When the identifier of the transmission device (40) exists in the table, ○ A step (104) to confirm the consistency between the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) and at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40), ○ A step (105) to update the table according to the result of the step to confirm consistency, - If the identifier of the transmission device (40) does not exist in the table, step (106) update the table by adding the identifier of the transmission device (40) associated with location information determined according to the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30). How to implement (100, 200, 300).

2. The aforementioned step (104) of verifying consistency is, - Step (201) of the access network (30) sending a message to the geolocation information server (50) that includes the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) and the identifier of the transmission device (40), - The geolocation information server (50) determines at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) (202), - Step (203) of comparing the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) with the at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) and The method according to claim 1, including (100, 200).

3. The aforementioned step (104) of verifying consistency is, - Step (301) of sending an inquiry message including the identifier of the transmission device to the geolocation information server (50) via the access network (30), - The geolocation information server (50) determines at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) (302), - The geolocation information server (50) sends a response message to the access network (30) that includes at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40), - Step (304) of comparing the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) with the at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) and The method according to claim 1 (100, 300), including the method described in claim 1.

4. The step (203, 304) of comparing the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) with the at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) is, - A step of estimating a first geographical location from the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network, - A step of estimating a second geographical location from at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) in the table, - A step of comparing the distance between the first geographical location and the second geographical location with a threshold value. The method according to claim 2 or 3, including (100, 200, 300).

5. The step (203, 304) of comparing the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) with the at least one location information in the table associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) is, - A step of determining a first value representing the level of accuracy of the first geographic location estimate, and / or - A step of determining a second value that represents the level of accuracy of the second geographic location estimate. It further includes, The threshold is defined according to the first value and / or the second value. The method according to claim 4 (100, 200, 300).

6. The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), wherein the step of updating the table in accordance with the result of the consistency verification step (104) includes the step of replacing in the table the at least one location information associated with the transmission device (40) with the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30).

7. The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), wherein the table may include at least two location information associated with the same transmission device (40), each location information is also associated with a confidence value representing the confidence assigned to the location information with respect to the transmission device (40), and the step of updating the table (105) in accordance with the result of the consistency verification step (104) includes adding in the table an association between the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the transmission device (40) and the access network (30), and / or updating in the table confidence values ​​for different location information associated with the transmission device.

8. The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), wherein at least the step of verifying consistency (104) and the step of updating the table (105) are delayed until certain criteria are met.

9. - When the prescribed waiting time has expired, and / or - When the number of received messages containing the identifier of at least one of the transmission devices is greater than a predetermined threshold, and / or - When the number of identifiers received by the transmission device exceeds a predetermined threshold, The method according to claim 8 (100, 200, 300), wherein the aforementioned specific criteria are met.

10. The several identifiers of different transmission devices (40) detected by the terminal (20) are received by the access network (30) in one single message or several messages transmitted by the terminal (20) during a predetermined period, and the step (104) of verifying the consistency with respect to at least one of the received identifiers, the so-called "identifier of interest," is: - A step of determining location information from multiple identifiers among the received identifiers and location information associated in the table, wherein the identifier of interest is included among the multiple identifiers, - A first consistency check between the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) and the location information thus determined, - If the first consistency check indicates an inconsistency, a second consistency check is performed between the identifier of interest, the location information associated in the table, and the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30). The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), comprising the above.

11. The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), wherein the first wireless communication protocol has a wider range than the range of the second wireless communication protocol.

12. The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), wherein the first wireless communication protocol is a communication protocol for a wireless wide-area network or a communication protocol for a low-power wireless wide-area network.

13. The method according to claim 1 (100, 200, 300), wherein the second wireless communication protocol is a communication protocol for a wireless local area network, a communication protocol for a wireless personal area network, or a short-range communication protocol.

14. A server (32) of an access network (30) of a wireless communication system (10) used to update the database of a geolocation information server (50), wherein the database includes a table for storing identifiers of transmission devices (40), and each identifier of the transmission device (40) is associated in the table with at least one location information representing the geographic location of the transmission device (40), and the wireless communication system (10) also includes at least one terminal (20) adapted to exchange messages with the access network (30) in accordance with a first wireless communication protocol and to receive messages transmitted by the transmission device (40) in accordance with a second wireless communication protocol, and the server (32) - The terminal (20) receives a message that includes at least one of the identifiers of the transmission device (40) that it has transmitted in accordance with the first wireless communication protocol and that the terminal (20) has detected. - Determine location information representing the geographic location of the terminal (20) without using the geolocation information server (50), - The transmission device (40) sends an inquiry message containing the identifier to the geolocation information server (50). It is configured in such a way, The server (32) is - When the identifier of the transmission device (40) exists in the table, ○ The geolocation server (50) receives a response message from the geolocation server (50) that includes at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) in the table, ○The access network (30) verifies the consistency between the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) and the at least one location information associated with the identifier of the transmission device (40) in the table. ○Send a message intending to update the table in accordance with the results of the consistency check. - If the identifier of the transmission device (40) does not exist in the table, the access network (30) sends a message intending to add the identifier of the transmission device (40) associated with the location information determined according to the location information of the terminal (20) determined by the access network (30) to the table. A server (32) further configured to implement the following.

15. An access network (30) comprising the server (32) described in claim 14.

16. The access network (30) according to claim 15, which is a wireless wide-area network or a low-power wireless wide-area network.

17. The access network (30) according to claim 15, which is an access network for an ultra-narrowband communication system (10).

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