Hybrid WiFi GSM Landmark Location System

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Solution Overview

Problem

Accurate location information is difficult to acquire, especially in urban areas or indoors, for devices without GPS units or without access to 'war driving' databases, which rely on WiFi network locations.

Innovation Solution

A system that collects and maps wireless landmarks like cell phone sites and WiFi access points by their identifiers, using GSM and WiFi access points to determine location without requiring specific geographic references, allowing for relative location relationships to be recorded without the need for absolute latitude and longitude, and utilizing less power than GPS solutions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If GPS units are used to acquire location information, then location accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocation accuracyVSAvoidpower consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines multiple wireless technologies (WiFi and GSM) to determine location, merging their respective advantages to achieve accurate positioning without relying solely on power-intensive GPS. The system integrates WiFi access point signatures with GSM cell tower triangulation to create a hybrid location determination approach that reduces overall power consumption while maintaining accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses low-cost WiFi access points and GSM cell towers as temporary, easily deployable location references rather than requiring expensive GPS infrastructure. These wireless landmarks can be quickly added or removed from the network without significant investment, providing economical location determination.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

2Area of stationary object

If war driving databases are used to map WiFi locations, then location coverage is improved, but system complexity and deployment difficulty increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocation coverageVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables automatic self-mapping of WiFi access points and GSM cell towers through wireless signatures and triangulation algorithms. Rather than requiring manual war driving database creation, the system automatically discovers and maps wireless landmarks as devices connect to networks, significantly reducing deployment complexity while expanding location coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent establishes preliminary wireless landmark mappings during initial system deployment and network setup. By pre-mapping WiFi access points and GSM cell towers before actual location services are needed, the system creates a foundation that simplifies subsequent location determination operations and reduces the need for complex real-time mapping operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If absolute geographic coordinates (latitude/longitude) are recorded for wireless landmarks, then location precision is improved, but deployment requirements increase as network operators must cooperate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvelocation precisionVSAvoiddeployment ease

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The system introduces relative position relationships and wireless signatures as intermediaries between wireless landmarks and absolute geographic coordinates. Instead of requiring direct GPS coordinates for every WiFi access point and GSM cell tower, the system uses relative positioning based on wireless signal relationships, which can be determined without network operator cooperation or precise geographic data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

Rather than starting with absolute geographic coordinates and mapping wireless landmarks to them, the patent inverts the approach by first establishing relative position relationships through wireless signatures and triangulation, then optionally converting to absolute coordinates only when needed. This reversal eliminates the requirement for network operator cooperation during initial deployment.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS8185135B2WiFi and GSM landmarks and neighborhoods for location based services

Publication Date: 2012.05.22 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A system for capturing and delivering location-based information and services captures wireless landmark information sent by mobile devices to build a map of locations based on the relationship between wireless landmarks that are visible to the mobile device at the same time. A wireless landmark may be a cellular telephone base site or local network (WiFi/Bluetooth) access point. The mobile device may capture a location signature using identifiers for all wireless local area networks in range as well as one or more cellular telephone transmitters. A location service resolves the location signature into a relative location that an application service may use to record incoming information or to send location-specific information such as traveler comments, reviews, or advertisements. The distance between two mobile devices may be calculated using weighted edge values, representing a number of ‘hops’ between location signatures.