Patents Assigned to Polaris Wireless, Inc.
  • Patent number: 8838137
    Abstract: A technique for estimating the location of a wireless terminal at an unknown location in a geographic region is disclosed. The technique is based on the recognition that there are location-dependent traits of electromagnetic signals. In environments where multiple antennas are radiating the same signal, as in the case of distributed antennas or host-repeater configurations, one or more possible locations of the wireless terminal can be designated as improbable based on i) a measure of the propagation delay of a signal traveling between a) a base station and b) the wireless terminal or an infrastructure antenna, or ii) the maximum distance at which a signal is detectable by the wireless terminal. Additionally, the applicable set of values for the location-dependent traits is selected based on similar criteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, David Stevenson Spain, Jr., Hassan Mohamed El-Sallabi, Robert Lewis Martin
  • Patent number: 8712428
    Abstract: A method of estimating the location of a wireless terminal without the addition of hardware to either the wireless terminal or to the telecommunication system's base stations is disclosed. The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is based on the observation that the signal strength of a signal from a transmitter is different at some locations, and, therefore, the location of a wireless terminal can be estimated by comparing the signal strength it currently observes against a map or database that correlates locations to signal strengths. Furthermore, the illustrative embodiment deduces the signal strength of the serving base station's control channel signal at the wireless terminal, RD, based on the principal of reciprocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventor: David Stevenson Spain
  • Publication number: 20140045530
    Abstract: An illustrative geo-temporal analysis system analyzes telecommunications-event records and other records associated with wireless terminals to infer a collaborative relationship between users who do not telecommunicate with each other, based on how precisely a first geo-temporal pattern matches a second geo-temporal pattern. When a collaborative relationship is inferred, the system transmits an indication thereof and a request for an estimated location of the respective wireless terminals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2012
    Publication date: February 13, 2014
    Applicant: Polaris Wireless Inc.
    Inventors: Scot Douglas Gordon, Dmitry Kaplan, Raul Vera
  • Patent number: 8630665
    Abstract: A location engine is disclosed that estimates the location of a wireless terminal using (i) cell ID, (ii) triangulation, (iii) GPS, (iv) RF pattern-matching, or (v) any combination of them. The location engine is adept at discounting the contribution of apparently reasonable but erroneous data. The location engine receives data that are evidence of the location of a wireless terminal at each of a plurality of different times. The location engine then generates an initial hypothesis for the location of the wireless terminal at each time assuming that all of the data is correct and equally probative. Next, the location engine generates one alternative hypothesis for each initial hypothesis and each datum assuming that the datum is erroneous. Finally, the location engine generates the estimate for the location of the wireless terminal at each time by determining which combination of initial hypotheses and alternative hypothesis is the most self-consistent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2014
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Manlio Allegra, David S. De Lorenzo, Jasvinder Singh
  • Publication number: 20130343209
    Abstract: A telecommunications system is disclosed comprising a wireless switching center and plurality of base stations that are configured to transmit positioning reference signals. The base stations transmit the positioning reference signals in positioning subframe time intervals. Meanwhile, the base stations also transmit cell-specific reference signals continuously, including during the positioning subframe time intervals. In order to ensure that the wireless terminal measures those cell-specific reference signals during periods of lower interference, the base station imposes a measurement restriction on the wireless terminal, in regard to when it may measure a signal. As a result of utilizing the measurement restriction in this way, in combination with the improved interference characteristics of the positioning reference signals themselves, the ability of the wireless terminal to detect the cell-specific reference signals of more distant cells is improved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Applicant: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventor: Scot Douglas Gordon
  • Patent number: 8588822
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for triggering location estimation of mobile stations in a geographic region of interest. The disclosed system includes a list of International Mobile Subscriber Identities (“IMSI”) used to track which mobile stations are to have location estimates generated, a database of Network Measurement Reports (“NMR”) used for generating the location estimates, and a location engine. The system operates as a group of concurrently executing processes that i) process IMSIs and NMRs that are extracted by and received from probes that monitor communication links; ii) generate location estimates of mobile stations in the region of interest, based on a sequential indexing of the IMSI list; iii) maintain the freshness of the NMR database; and iv) maintain the freshness of the IMSI list. These processes operate such that the triggering of the location estimations occurs asynchronously with respect to the detection of information on the communication links.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Mahesh B. Patel
  • Patent number: 8583141
    Abstract: A technique for estimating the location of a wireless terminal at an unknown location in a geographic region is disclosed. The technique is based on the recognition that there are traits of electromagnetic signals that are dependent on topography, the receiver, the location of the transmitter, and other factors. For example, if a particular radio station is known to be received strongly at a first location and weakly at a second location, and a given wireless terminal at an unknown location is receiving the radio station weakly, it is more likely that the wireless terminal is at the second location than at the first location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, Scot Douglas Gordon, David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8571577
    Abstract: A technique for estimating the location of a wireless terminal at an unknown location in a geographic region is disclosed. The technique is based on the recognition that there are traits of electromagnetic signals that are dependent on topography, the receiver, the location of the transmitter, and other factors. For example, if a particular radio station is known to be received strongly at a first location and weakly at a second location, and a given wireless terminal at an unknown location is receiving the radio station weakly, it is more likely that the wireless terminal is at the second location than at the first location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2013
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, Scot Douglas Gordon, David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8565786
    Abstract: A technique for estimating the location of a wireless terminal at an unknown location in a geographic region is disclosed. The technique is based on the recognition that there are traits of electromagnetic signals that are dependent on topography, the receiver, the location of the transmitter, and other factors. For example, if a particular radio station is known to be received strongly at a first location and weakly at a second location, and a given wireless terminal at an unknown location is receiving the radio station weakly, it is more likely that the wireless terminal is at the second location than at the first location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2013
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, Scot Douglas Gordon, David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8532676
    Abstract: Methods for generating more accurate location estimates are based on indicative factors. The factors are gleaned from wireless signals that were received by a wireless terminal and from other network-specific data. Each factor is probative of whether the wireless signals were received by the wireless terminal: (i) indoors versus outdoors, and/or (ii) “above-the-clutter” versus “below-the-clutter” of ambient wireless signals, and/or (iii) while moving at a certain speed classification, e.g., stationary/pedestrian versus vehicular speeds. Each factor tends to prove or disprove the particular characteristic. The result is an estimated probability, such as the probability that the wireless terminal received the signals indoors. The estimated probability is applied to the analysis of candidate locations, eliminating some candidates from further consideration. This enables computational resources to focus on the remaining higher-likelihood candidate locations and provides improved accuracy in the location estimate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventor: Hassan Mohamed El-Sallabi
  • Patent number: 8493205
    Abstract: A method of using a non-GPS-derived technique to estimate the location of an Assisted-GPS-enabled wireless terminal for the purposes of generating location-specific assistance data for the wireless terminal is disclosed. The wireless terminal then uses the assistance data to acquire and process one or more GPS signals and to derive information that is probative of the wireless terminal's location. The GPS-derived location information is then combined with non-GPS-derived location to form an estimate of the location of the wireless terminal that is better than can be derived from either alone. This combination of GPS-derived and non-GPS techniques is particularly useful when the wireless terminal can only acquire one or two GPS signals because it is not possible to determine the location of the wireless terminal with only two GPS signals alone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2013
    Assignees: NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Hassan M. El-Sallabi, Scot Douglas Gordon
  • Patent number: 8406166
    Abstract: A method of estimating the location of a wireless terminal is disclosed that is ideally suited for use with legacy systems. The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is based on the observation that the signal strength of a signal from a transmitter is different at some locations, and, therefore, the location of a wireless terminal can be estimated by comparing the signal strength it currently observes against a map or database that correlates locations to signal strengths. For example, if a particular radio station is known to be received well at a first location and poorly at a second location, and a given wireless terminal at an unknown location is receiving the radio station poorly, it is more likely that the wireless terminal is at the second location than it is at the first location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventor: David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8320933
    Abstract: A method for estimating whether or not a wireless terminal is in a zone is described. The method is based on the following observation: when a wireless terminal is at a particular location, the values of the traits of the ambient electromagnetic signals that vary with location represent a “fingerprint” or “signature” for that location. This enables the location of a wireless terminal to be estimated by comparing the observed values of the traits of the ambient electromagnetic signals with the fingerprint for each potential location for the wireless terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2012
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, Scot Douglas Gordon
  • Publication number: 20120282947
    Abstract: A technique for estimating the location of a wireless terminal at an unknown location in a geographic region is disclosed. The technique is based on the recognition that there are traits of electromagnetic signals that are dependent on topography, the receiver, the location of the transmitter, and other factors. For example, if a particular radio station is known to be received strongly at a first location and weakly at a second location, and a given wireless terminal at an unknown location is receiving the radio station weakly, it is more likely that the wireless terminal is at the second location than at the first location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Publication date: November 8, 2012
    Applicant: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, Scot Douglas Gordon, David Stevenson Spain, JR.
  • Patent number: 8155394
    Abstract: An integrated wireless location and facial/speaker-recognition system that provides distinct advantages over facial-recognition systems and speaker-recognition systems of the prior art is disclosed. The integrated system is capable of using information from a wireless location system to improve the performance of the facial recognition and speaker recognition. The system is capable of processing photographs and/or audio samples captured by a camera/microphone at a fixed location (e.g., a digital pan-zoom-tilt (PZT) surveillance camera, etc.) as well as those captured by a mobile camera/microphone (e.g., a digital camera and microphone in a smartphone, etc.). The system also features a feedback mechanism by which the location-informed results can be used to improve the system's recognition abilities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2012
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Manlio Allegra, Martin Feuerstein, Mahesh B. Patel, David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8106817
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to obtain a positioning result corresponding to the state of a receiver in less time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignees: Polaris Wireless, Inc., NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Hassan Mohamed El-Sallabi, Scot Douglas Gordon, Yasuhiro Oda, Jiyun Shen
  • Patent number: 8106818
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to perform positioning at the proper positioning time and positioning precision in response to a requirement with respect to positioning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignees: Polaris Wireless, Inc., NTT DoCoMo, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Hassan Mohamed El-Sallabi, Scot Douglas Gordon, Yasuhiro Oda, Jiyun Shen
  • Patent number: 8068802
    Abstract: A process and machine for estimating the location of a wireless terminal is disclosed. The illustrative embodiment of the present invention is based on the observation that the signal strength of a signal from a transmitter is different at some locations, and, therefore, the location of a wireless terminal can be estimated by comparing the signal strength it currently observes against a map or database that correlates locations to signal strengths. In accordance with a first example, if a particular radio station is known to be received well at a first location and poorly at a second location, and a given wireless terminal at an unknown location is receiving the radio station poorly, it is more likely that the wireless terminal is at the second location than it is at the first location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8068855
    Abstract: A method for determining the location of a mobile unit (MU) in a wireless communication system and presenting it to a remote party. The location of a remote MU is determined by comparing a snapshot of a predefined portion of the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum taken by the MU to a reference database containing multiple snapshots taken at various locations. The result of the comparison is used to determine if the MU is at a specific location. The comparison may be made in the MU, or at some other location situated remotely from the MU. In the latter case, sufficient information regarding the captured fingerprint is transmitted from the MU to the remote location. The database may be pre-compiled or generated on-line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Morris Dressler, David Stevenson Spain, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8013785
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to perform positioning at favorable positioning precision and in a favorable positioning time, according to whether a receiver is indoors or outdoors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2011
    Assignees: NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Hassan Mohamed Ei-Sallabi, Scot Douglas Gordon, Yasuhiro Oda, Jiyun Shen