Surrogate Location Determination for GPS-Limited Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Devices without accurate geo-location systems face challenges in providing reliable location-based services, as they often lack GPS receivers or experience poor signal reception in indoor environments, leading to inadequate location determination for applications requiring precise location data.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of surrogate locational determination, where a nearby device with a GPS receiver, such as a smartphone, provides a proxy location and time to devices without accurate geo-location capabilities, using short-range communication protocols like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to ensure geographic proximity and security credentials for trusted surrogation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a device lacks a GPS receiver or experiences poor signal reception, then the device cannot determine accurate location, but adding GPS hardware increases device complexity and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a surrogate device as an intermediary to provide location information. Instead of requiring the target device to have its own GPS receiver, the system establishes communication with a nearby surrogate device that does have GPS capability. The surrogate device's location data serves as a proxy for the target device's location, resolving the contradiction by obtaining accurate location information without adding GPS hardware to the target device.
Solution Approach 2:
The surrogate device performs multiple functions: it serves as both a communication partner and a location determination source. By leveraging the surrogate device's existing GPS capability for the target device's location needs, the system achieves multi-functionality where one device supports another's location determination without requiring the target device to have dedicated location hardware.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a device uses surrogate locational determination, then location-based services can function without GPS, but the system requires additional communication protocols and security credentials
Solution Approach 1:
The surrogate device self-identifies and self-authenticates to the target device using existing communication protocols and security credentials. The surrogate device provides its own location information without requiring the target device to actively query multiple potential surrogates or manage complex authentication sequences, allowing the surrogate to serve itself as the location source while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing communication channels and verifying security credentials before the actual location determination process. The target device and surrogate device authenticate each other and establish trusted communication in advance, so that when location information is needed, the surrogate is already verified and ready to provide accurate location data without requiring complex real-time authentication.
Data Source
AI summary
Surrogate locational determination may rely on a surrogate device to provide a locational fix. When a device lacks an accurate geo-location system, communication may be established with a nearby surrogate device. The surrogate device is queried for an accurate location, such as that determined by a global positioning system receiver. Because the surrogate device is geographically proximate, the location determined by the global positioning system receiver may serve as a proxy or substitute for the local fix of the device.