Location Fingerprinting for Indoor Positioning Accuracy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mobile devices fail to accurately determine location in areas where GPS signals are unavailable, such as indoors or in tunnels, due to interference or weak signal strength.
Innovation Solution
The use of a location fingerprint database generated through extrapolation and interpolation, where a server collects and processes signal measurements from various points to create a database of location fingerprints, which a mobile device can then match with its own sensor readings to estimate its location using statistical classification and particle filters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS signals are used for location determination, then location accuracy is improved, but the system becomes unreliable in areas with weak or non-existent GPS signals (indoors, tunnels)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system (location fingerprint database) that mediates between the mobile device and GPS signals. When GPS signals are unavailable, the system uses pre-stored location fingerprint data as an intermediary reference to determine location through statistical classification, thereby maintaining reliability in GPS-denied areas while preserving accuracy when GPS is available.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-generating and storing location fingerprint data for various venues before the mobile device needs location determination. This advance preparation allows the device to immediately use stored fingerprints when entering a venue, eliminating the need for real-time GPS-dependent location determination and ensuring continuous reliability.
2Reliability
If conventional location determination methods (cellular triangulation) are used indoors, then location determination is possible, but location resolution is poor (only street block level)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating venue-specific location fingerprint databases with high-resolution spatial details. Instead of using uniform low-resolution cellular triangulation, the system generates detailed fingerprints that capture local signal characteristics at specific locations within venues, enabling fine-grained location determination (hallway, room, floor level) while maintaining reliability through statistical classification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from two-dimensional cellular triangulation to multi-dimensional location fingerprinting by incorporating multiple signal parameters (signal strength, signal type, spatial coordinates) into a comprehensive fingerprint database. This dimensional expansion enables precise indoor location determination by matching patterns across multiple dimensions rather than relying on single-parameter triangulation.
3Measurement precision
If location fingerprint data is stored for all venues, then location determination accuracy is improved, but memory footprint and network bandwidth usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements local quality by storing location fingerprint data selectively for specific venues rather than all possible locations. The mobile device requests and stores fingerprints only for venues that are currently relevant or recently accessed, optimizing the balance between location determination accuracy and memory consumption by maintaining high-resolution data only where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-loading location fingerprint data for anticipated venues before the device enters them. This allows the mobile device to have accurate location data ready without requiring continuous storage of all possible venue fingerprints, reducing memory footprint by loading data selectively based on predicted movement or user context.
4Measurement precision
If comprehensive location fingerprint databases are used, then location resolution is improved, but processor load and computational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by performing statistical classification and fingerprint matching only for the subset of venues currently relevant to the mobile device's location, rather than processing all stored fingerprints simultaneously. This selective processing approach maintains high location resolution for active venues while significantly reducing processor load by limiting computational operations to only the necessary subset of data.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, program products, and systems for using a location fingerprint database to determine a location of a mobile device are described. A mobile device can use a location fingerprint database to determine the location where GPS signals are unavailable. A server can generate location fingerprint data for the database. The server can generate the location fingerprint data using crowd sourcing, using known locations of signal sources, or both. The server can receive, from a sampling device, measurements of environment variables, e.g., signals from a signal source at one or more sampling points. The server can extrapolate, from the received measurements, estimated measurements at one or more locations in a venue. The server can store the extrapolated measurements as location fingerprint data. The server can send the location fingerprint data to a mobile device for determining a location of the mobile device when the mobile device is at the venue.