Abstract: A method comprises receiving a request for generating a challenge for a device or a user of the device. The method also comprises determining location information associated with the device. The method further comprises determining one or more characteristics that are detectable based, at least in part, on the location information. Furthermore, the method comprises generating the challenge based, at least in part, the one or more characteristics.

Abstract: An apparatus for augmenting associations between places and fingerprints includes a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including detecting fingerprint data from a beacon device(s), as the apparatus traverses one or more physical places. The fingerprint data corresponds to generated summaries of radio information corresponding to the physical places. The computer code may cause the apparatus to compare fingerprint data detected from a subset of beacon devices with canonical fingerprint data, including initial fingerprint data, corresponding to physical places to determine a closest match. The computer code may cause the apparatus to determine a location of the apparatus in the physical place based on determining fingerprint data, detected from the subset of beacon devices in the physical place, that most accurately resembles canonical fingerprint data corresponding to one of the physical places.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided to permit location discovery, including location discovery in indoor settings. The method may identify a wireless fingerprint present at a geographical location and determine whether the wireless fingerprint corresponds to a previously observed wireless fingerprint associated with the predefined geographical location. A new wireless fingerprint and a geographical location, or bind, may be received by the system and the system may evaluate whether or not the new bind is erroneous or not, or if the new bind is an improvement over existing binds in determining whether or not to accept the new bind.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for on-device positioning using compressed fingerprint archives. The method and apparatus may be configured to provide compression of localization fingerprints, to facilitate efficient on-device positioning based on the RF fingerprint model, and to estimate the physical distance between two or more devices. Embodiments of the method may receive a space-to-access point histogram that corresponds to an access point as observed in a space. A mean, standard deviation, and weight may be calculated and assigned for each of a plurality of access points as observed within a space. The mean, standard deviation, and weight of each access point may be combined to form a data triple. The data triples may be combined to form a fingerprint of access points observed from that space. The data triple or plurality of data triples with the lowest assigned weight(s) may be removed from the fingerprint.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining a speed of cyclic motion of a device or user and one or more poses of a device may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including receiving one or more determined acceleration values during one or more time periods in response to detected cyclic motion of a user moving with an apparatus. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to transform the acceleration values to one or more corresponding frequency components associated with the acceleration values. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to determine a speed of the cyclic motion of the user based in part on comparing a spectrum of the frequency components to one or more spectrums of distribution associated with respective one or more speeds of training data. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Abstract: An apparatus for augmenting associations between places and fingerprints includes a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including detecting fingerprint data from a beacon device(s), as the apparatus traverses one or more physical places. The fingerprint data corresponds to generated summaries of radio information corresponding to the physical places. The computer code may cause the apparatus to compare fingerprint data detected from a subset of beacon devices with canonical fingerprint data, including initial fingerprint data, corresponding to physical places to determine a closest match. The computer code may cause the apparatus to determine a location of the apparatus in the physical place based on determining fingerprint data, detected from the subset of beacon devices in the physical place, that most accurately resembles canonical fingerprint data corresponding to one of the physical places.

Abstract: An apparatus for augmenting associations between places and fingerprints may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including detecting items of fingerprint data from one or more beacon devices, as the apparatus traverses one or more physical places. The fingerprint data may correspond to generated summaries of radio information corresponding to the physical places. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to detect that the apparatus is stationary in at least one of the physical places for a predetermined time period and determine a location of the apparatus in the physical place based in part on determining fingerprint data, detected from a subset of the beacon devices which are in the physical place, that most accurately resembles canonical fingerprint data corresponding to one of a plurality of physical places. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Abstract: An approach is provided for providing recommendation services while protecting the privacy of personal user information. The approach involves determining a request for at least one recommendation, the request specifying at least in part an anonymized user preference record. The approach also involves causing, at least in part, a comparison of the anonymized user preference record against one or more previously stored anonymized user preference records. The approach further involves causing, at least in part, a selection of the anonymized user preference record, the one or more previously stored anonymized user preference records, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on the comparison. The approach additionally involves determining to generate the at least one recommendation based, at least in part, on the selection.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for on-device positioning using compressed fingerprint archives. The method and apparatus may be configured to provide compression of localization fingerprints, to facilitate efficient on-device positioning based on the RF fingerprint model, and to estimate the physical distance between two or more devices. Embodiments of the method may receive a space-to-access point histogram that corresponds to an access point as observed in a space. The histogram may be normalized and a mean and standard deviation may be calculated from the histogram. A weight may be assigned to the access point corresponding to the frequency with which the access point is observed within the space. A mean, standard deviation, and weight may be calculated and assigned for each of a plurality of access points as observed within a space. The mean, standard deviation, and weight of each access point may be combined to form a data triple.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for on-device positioning using compressed fingerprint archives. The method and apparatus may be configured to provide compression of localization fingerprints, to facilitate efficient on-device positioning based on the RF fingerprint model, and to estimate the physical distance between two or more devices. Embodiments of the method may receive a space-to-access point histogram that corresponds to an access point as observed in a space. The histogram may be normalized and a mean and standard deviation may be calculated from the histogram. A weight may be assigned to the access point corresponding to the frequency with which the access point is observed within the space.

Abstract: An apparatus for preserving privacy of a determined location(s) of a device may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including receiving a request for determining a location of a device based on received fingerprint data corresponding to a summary of radio information identifying a physical place, location, area, or region. The summary based on information received from radio frequency (RF) devices. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to determine whether fingerprint data associated with a geographical location of the RF devices is stored locally for determining whether to request a network device to determine the location of the device based on providing the network device with fingerprint data and false fingerprint data relating to a location(s) that does not correspond to a current location of the device. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Abstract: A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided to permit location discovery, including location discovery in indoor settings. The method may identify a wireless signature present at a geographical location and determine whether the wireless signature corresponds to a previously observed wireless signature associated with the predefined geographical location. In instances in which the wireless signature fails to correspond to a previously observed wireless signature, the method may also receive an identification of a geographical location and associate, such as by means of a processor, the wireless signature with the identification of the geographical location. A corresponding computer program product and apparatus are also provided.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining a speed of cyclic motion of a device or user and one or more poses of a device may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including receiving one or more determined acceleration values during one or more time periods in response to detected cyclic motion of a user moving with an apparatus. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to transform the acceleration values to one or more corresponding frequency components associated with the acceleration values. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to determine a speed of the cyclic motion of the user based in part on comparing a spectrum of the frequency components to one or more spectrums of distribution associated with respective one or more speeds of training data. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Abstract: An approach is provided for providing recommendation services while protecting the privacy of personal user information. The approach involves determining a request for at least one recommendation, the request specifying at least in part an anonymized user preference record. The approach also involves causing, at least in part, a comparison of the anonymized user preference record against one or more previously stored anonymized user preference records. The approach further involves causing, at least in part, a selection of the anonymized user preference record, the one or more previously stored anonymized user preference records, or a combination thereof based, at least in part, on the comparison. The approach additionally involves determining to generate the at least one recommendation based, at least in part, on the selection.

Abstract: An approach is provided for pre-fetching location-based data while maintaining user privacy. A pre-fetching manager determines to segment a geographical area into a plurality of discrete areas. The pre-fetching manager determines to record location information associated with a device operating within the geographical area. The pre-fetching manager processes and/or facilitates a processing of the location information to calculate occurrence information of the device with respect to the discrete areas. The pre-fetching manager processes and/or facilitates a processing of the occurrence information to select location-based data to cache at the device. The pre-fetching manager further determines one or more other devices based, at least in part, on a collaborative filtering process, and retrieves other occurrence information associated with the one or more other devices, wherein the selection of the location-based data to cache is further based, at least in part, on the other occurrence information.

Abstract: An apparatus for augmenting associations between places and fingerprints may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including detecting items of fingerprint data from one or more beacon devices, as the apparatus traverses one or more physical places. The fingerprint data may correspond to generated summaries of radio information corresponding to the physical places. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to detect that the apparatus is stationary in at least one of the physical places for a predetermined time period and determine a location of the apparatus in the physical place based in part on determining fingerprint data, detected from a subset of the beacon devices which are in the physical place, that most accurately resembles canonical fingerprint data corresponding to one of a plurality of physical places. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Abstract: An approach is provided for pre-fetching location-based data while maintaining user privacy. A pre-fetching manager determines to segment a geographical area into a plurality of discrete areas. The pre-fetching manager determines to record location information associated with a device operating within the geographical area. The pre-fetching manager processes and/or facilitates a processing of the location information to calculate occurrence information of the device with respect to the discrete areas. The pre-fetching manager processes and/or facilitates a processing of the occurrence information to select location-based data to cache at the device. The pre-fetching manager further determines one or more other devices based, at least in part, on a collaborative filtering process, and retrieves other occurrence information associated with the one or more other devices, wherein the selection of the location-based data to cache is further based, at least in part, on the other occurrence information.

Abstract: An apparatus for preserving privacy of a determined location(s) of a device may include a processor and memory storing executable computer code causing the apparatus to at least perform operations including receiving a request for determining a location of a device based on received fingerprint data corresponding to a summary of radio information identifying a physical place, location, area, or region. The summary based on information received from radio frequency (RF) devices. The computer program code may further cause the apparatus to determine whether fingerprint data associated with a geographical location of the RF devices is stored locally for determining whether to request a network device to determine the location of the device based on providing the network device with fingerprint data and false fingerprint data relating to a location(s) that does not correspond to a current location of the device. Corresponding methods and computer program products are also provided.

Abstract: A method comprises receiving a request for generating a challenge for a device or a user of the device. The method also comprises determining location information associated with the device. The method further comprises determining one or more characteristics that are detectable based, at least in part, on the location information. Furthermore, the method comprises generating the challenge based, at least in part, the one or more characteristics.

Abstract: Techniques for determining context based on a spatial trail include determining data that indicates a first trail comprising a plurality of locations of finite spatial granularity at a corresponding plurality of times. The techniques also comprise determining data that indicates at least one criterion for belonging in a group. The criterion indicates a first spatial granularity for at least a first location at a corresponding first time in the first trail. The techniques further comprise determining whether a particular entity belongs in the group based, at least in part, on the criterion and a second trail for the particular entity. A trail for any entity comprises a plurality of locations of finite spatial granularity indicating actual locations of the entity at a corresponding plurality of times.