Crowd-Sourced Indoor Navigation via Magnetic and RSS Fingerprinting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing indoor navigation systems face challenges in achieving seamless and accurate positioning within enclosed spaces due to limitations in satellite-based navigation and high power consumption of wireless communication scans, making calibration and deployment labor-intensive and costly.
Innovation Solution
A crowd-sourced multi-staged fingerprinting method that uses magnetic field data for initial calibration, followed by received signal strength (RSS) data collection, allowing for a more efficient and scalable indoor navigation solution by leveraging user-generated data to create accurate fingerprint maps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If satellite-based navigation systems are used for indoor positioning, then positioning accuracy can be maintained, but the system becomes unavailable or sporadically available in enclosed spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces wireless communication signals (WiFi, Bluetooth) as intermediary carriers for positioning information indoors. These signals penetrate enclosed spaces where satellite signals fail, acting as a mediator to maintain positioning functionality. The system uses received signal strength (RSS) measurements of these intermediary signals to determine location when satellite-based navigation is unavailable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the satellite-based electromagnetic navigation system with a wireless communication signal-based positioning system for indoor environments. This substitution uses infrastructure already present in buildings (WiFi access points, Bluetooth beacons) to provide positioning capabilities where traditional satellite systems cannot operate.
2Measurement precision
If wireless communication scans are performed frequently to collect RSS data for calibration, then positioning accuracy improves, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic calibration phases where RSS data collection occurs at scheduled intervals rather than continuously. During calibration, the system performs frequent scans to build or update fingerprint databases. During normal operation, it uses the pre-collected data with much lower power consumption, thus balancing accuracy requirements with energy conservation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs RSS data collection and fingerprint database creation in advance during calibration phases. This preliminary action prepares the positioning system with pre-collected data so that during actual navigation, the device can operate with minimal scanning and lower power consumption while maintaining positioning accuracy.
3Reliability
If manual calibration with dedicated equipment is performed to create accurate fingerprint maps, then positioning reliability improves, but the calibration process becomes labor-intensive and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables ordinary mobile devices to automatically contribute RSS measurements for building the fingerprint database during their normal operation. Users simply use their devices as usual, and the system automatically collects data points, eliminating the need for dedicated calibration equipment and manual procedures. This self-service approach dramatically improves calibration efficiency while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms ordinary mobile devices into multi-functional tools that serve both their primary communication purposes and secondary positioning calibration functions. The same device used for daily communication tasks also automatically contributes to building the positioning fingerprint database, eliminating the need for specialized calibration equipment and personnel.
4Measurement precision
If traditional calibration methods are used to deploy indoor navigation systems, then system accuracy can be ensured, but deployment becomes complex and difficult to scale
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automatic fingerprint database generation where mobile devices autonomously contribute RSS measurements during normal operation. The system automatically processes these measurements, correlates them with location data, and builds the fingerprint database without requiring manual calibration procedures, specialized equipment, or expert intervention, thereby simplifying deployment while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses crowd-sourced RSS measurement data from multiple mobile devices to create a composite fingerprint map that represents the indoor environment. By aggregating and averaging measurements from numerous devices, the system creates an accurate positioning model without requiring manual measurement at every location, thus reducing deployment complexity while preserving navigation accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for deploying a calibrated positioning map of an area. The method, executed in a processor of a server computing device, comprises deploying a crowd sourced magnetic fingerprint map for mobile device localization during traversal of the indoor area, accumulating received signal strength (RSS) measurements in forming a RSS fingerprint map using crowd sourced RSS measurements during the deploying, and switching, responsive to identifying desirability of a change in the mobile device localization within the indoor area, from the crowd sourced magnetic fingerprint map to the RSS fingerprint map as basis for localizing the mobile device.