Patents by Inventor Weihua Gao

Weihua Gao has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9247518
    Abstract: Various methods, apparatuses and/or articles of manufacture are provided which may be implemented for use by a mobile device to affect at least one positioning function based, at least in part, on a recommended candidate position fix mode received from another electronic device for use in a particular region of an environment. For example, a mobile device may obtain assistance data indicative of a candidate position fix mode for a partial region of an environment navigable by the mobile device, and in response to a determination that the mobile device is estimated to be located within a threshold proximity of the partial region, affect a wireless signal-based positioning function based, at least in part, on the candidate position fix mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Weihua Gao, Benjamin A. Werner, Gengsheng Zhang
  • Publication number: 20160021504
    Abstract: A method for requesting assistance data includes, at a mobile device, determining an expected quality of service information, transmitting a request for assistance data, transmitting the expected quality of service information, and receiving an assistance data file comprising heat map information, wherein the heat map information includes a heat map grid resolution and a suitable quantization precision level for heat map values as determined, at least in part, based on the expected quality of service information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2015
    Publication date: January 21, 2016
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep VENKATRAMAN, Ju-Yong DO, Weihua GAO, Amir A. EMADZADEH, Sundar RAMAN, Gengsheng ZHANG
  • Patent number: 9241353
    Abstract: Method, device, and computer program product that may improve communications between a mobile device and an access point device are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of communicating between a mobile device and an access point device comprises control a plurality of beacons in the access point device, establishing a communication between the access point device with the mobile device using a first beacon in the plurality of beacons, broadcasting availability of the plurality of beacons in the access point device via the first beacon, and establishing the communication with the mobile device using a second beacon in the plurality of beacons.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2016
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Ju-Yong Do, Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Weihua Gao, Amir A. Emadzadeh, Sundar Raman, Gengsheng Zhang
  • Publication number: 20160007158
    Abstract: Example techniques are provided that may be implemented, at least in part, at a mobile device to determine certain parameters corresponding to movement of an object that is co-located with the mobile device and at least one other mobile device. In an example implementation, a mobile device may obtain measurements corresponding to sensors of a plurality of mobile devices co-located on an object, and determine at least one of an estimated speed of the object, an estimated heading of the object, or an estimated heading rate of the object based, at least in part, on all or a selected subset of the sensor measurements which are accepted for use.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2014
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Weihua Gao, Benjamin A. Werner
  • Publication number: 20160007147
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for estimating a cell center and/or coverage area of an antenna, and geographic coverage of cell IDs associated therewith, using crowdsourcing data from mobile phones. The techniques described herein can utilize two different data sets to accommodate changes in the geographical coverage associated with a cell ID and reduce the probability of putting the cell center estimate in awkward or unlikely locations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2014
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Inventors: Gengsheng ZHANG, Weihua GAO, Sai Pradeep VENKATRAMAN
  • Publication number: 20160003623
    Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus and method for collaborative navigation and operation on two mobile devices. The method may include establishing a wireless connection between a first mobile device and a second mobile device, and generating navigation data by the first mobile device for collaborative navigation based on a location of the first mobile device. The method may also include selecting a first subset of the navigation data for display by the first mobile device, and selecting a second subset of the navigation data for display by the second mobile device. The method may also include transferring the second subset of navigation data to the second mobile device and coordinating the display of the first subset of navigation data on the first mobile device with display of the second subset of navigation data on the second mobile device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2014
    Publication date: January 7, 2016
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Benjamin A. Werner, Weihua Gao
  • Publication number: 20150382227
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for controlling crowdsourcing data are disclosed. The method may include comparing a set of access points detected in an area of a wireless environment by the mobile device to a set of known access points for the area, determining a level of crowdsourcing based at least in part on the comparison, where the level of crowdsourcing controls a quantity of crowdsourcing data to be collected, uploaded, or a combination thereof by the mobile device, and performing crowdsourcing, at least in part, in accordance with the determined level of crowdsourcing, where the determined level of crowdsourcing affects a frequency of crowdsourcing operations to be performed by the mobile device, a type of quantization to be applied to crowdsourcing data collected, or some combination thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2015
    Publication date: December 31, 2015
    Inventors: Weihua Gao, Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Ju-Yong Do, Gengsheng Zhang
  • Patent number: 9215596
    Abstract: A level 3 (L3) sparse network almanac (SNA) is generated using data from a base station almanac with information for a plurality of base stations. The information for base stations includes cell identifiers that include an L3 region code that is one layer above a cell tower identification level. Cell boundaries are determined from the base station information. The cell boundaries are used to estimate a region of coverage for the L3 SNA, which may be stored in a database. For example, region points may be generated from the cell boundaries, and used to estimate the region of coverage for the L3 SNA. The region of coverage may be determined, e.g., as a minimum enclosing circle or other similar techniques. The larger of an estimated region size parameter, e.g., a radius of a circle, and a default size may be used for the region of coverage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Weihua Gao, Gengsheng Zhang, Sai Pradeep Venkatraman
  • Publication number: 20150350831
    Abstract: Method, apparatus and computer program product for monitoring wireless wide area network almanac integrity in a wireless wide area network are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving crowdsourcing data from a plurality of mobile devices, determining a change to a wireless wide area network almanac using the crowdsourcing data, and updating a database in accordance with the change to the wireless wide area network almanac.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Publication date: December 3, 2015
    Inventors: Weihua GAO, Sai Pradeep VENKATRAMAN, Gengsheng Zhang, Mark L. MOEGLEIN
  • Patent number: 9204419
    Abstract: Techniques for publishing location information associated with a non-geotagged transceiver are disclosed. A method for publishing a position of a non-geotagged transceiver in a wireless communication system includes determining a first position of the non-geotagged transceiver based on a periodic neighbor list, determining a second position of the non-geotagged transceiver based on an accumulated neighbor list, determining if the first position and the second position agree, publishing a third position if the first position and the second position agree, such that the third position is determined based on the union of the periodic neighbor list and the accumulated neighbor list, and resetting the accumulated neighbor list if the first and second position do not agree.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Weihua Gao, Anil R. Admal, Gengsheng Zhang, David Richard Coleman, Ashok Bhatia, Arun Agrawal, Srimaruti Manoj Nimmagadda, Kirk Allan Burroughs
  • Patent number: 9198119
    Abstract: According to some aspects, a method includes communicating a request from a first device to a second device using near field communication (NFC). The request includes a preferred mode of wireless local area network (Wi-Fi) operation and state information of the first device. The method further includes receiving a reply at the first device, sent from the second device, including acceptance of the preferred mode of Wi-Fi operation. The method further includes communicating wireless information to establish the Wi-Fi communication link from the first device to the second device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Weihua Gao, Vinay Sridhara, Sina Firouzabadi
  • Publication number: 20150327209
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods for a mobile device and a base station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing information are presented. The crowdsourcing information is used to improve a location of a base station in a base station almanac. A portion of the base station almanac is provided to a mobile device. For example, the mobile device may identify its current cell and request the base station almanac. The mobile device records crowdsourcing information to identify, for each particular base station of at least one base station, a cellular identifier for the particular base station, optional ranging information between the particular base station and the mobile device, and an independent position of the mobile device. The independent position of the mobile device may be formed from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or station signals independent of the at least one base station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Publication date: November 12, 2015
    Inventors: Lois A. TEED-GILLEN, Weihua GAO, Kirk Allan BURROUGHS, Dominic Gerard FARMER
  • Publication number: 20150319604
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for processing access point (AP) crowdsourcing data are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving WiFi scan lists and their corresponding location descriptions, where the WiFi scan lists and their corresponding location descriptions include information observed about at least one access point device, consolidating the WiFi scan lists and their corresponding location descriptions based at least in part on a set of selection criteria to generate a WiFi AP record, where the set of selection criteria comprises a maximum number of scan lists to be uploaded in a predetermined period of time and the maximum number of scan lists to be uploaded in a single upload, and uploading the WiFi AP record to a crowdsourcing server.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Inventors: Weihua Gao, Gengsheng Zhang, Ashok Bhatia
  • Publication number: 20150319733
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods for a mobile device and a base station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing information are presented. The crowdsourcing information is used to improve a location of a base station in a base station almanac. A portion of the base station almanac is provided to a mobile device. For example, the mobile device may identify its current cell and request the base station almanac. The mobile device records crowdsourcing information to identify, for each particular base station of at least one base station, a cellular identifier for the particular base station, optional ranging information between the particular base station and the mobile device, and an independent position of the mobile device. The independent position of the mobile device may be formed from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or station signals independent of the at least one base station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Inventors: Lois A. TEED-GILLEN, Weihua GAO, Kirk Allan BURROUGHS, Dominic Gerard FARMER
  • Publication number: 20150319732
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus and methods for a mobile device and a base station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing information are presented. The crowdsourcing information is used to improve a location of a base station in a base station almanac. A portion of the base station almanac is provided to a mobile device. For example, the mobile device may identify its current cell and request the base station almanac. The mobile device records crowdsourcing information to identify, for each particular base station of at least one base station, a cellular identifier for the particular base station, optional ranging information between the particular base station and the mobile device, and an independent position of the mobile device. The independent position of the mobile device may be formed from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or station signals independent of the at least one base station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 16, 2015
    Publication date: November 5, 2015
    Inventors: Lois A. TEED-GILLEN, Weihua GAO, Kirk Allan BURROUGHS, Dominic Gerard FARMER
  • Patent number: 9167551
    Abstract: Methods and devices for detecting mobile access points are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of detecting mobile access points comprises collecting crowdsourcing data associated with one or more access point devices, quantizing the crowdsourcing data to generate a quantized crowdsourcing data, for each access point device, determining an interfracile range of the access point device using the quantized crowdsourcing data, where the interfracile range is a measure of statistical dispersion of the quantized crowdsourcing data with respect to the access point device, identifying the access point device as a mobile access point device in response to the interfracile range exceeds a first predetermined range. The method of collecting crowdsourcing data comprises collecting the crowdsourcing data within a predetermined sliding time window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Weihua Gao, Ju-Yong Do, Gengsheng Zhang, Ferit Ozan Akgul, Ashok Bhatia
  • Patent number: 9167390
    Abstract: A method for providing tiered indoor positioning service includes: receiving a request for assistance data from a mobile device; receiving expected quality of service information from the mobile device; generating an adaptive assistance data file comprising heat map data based at least in part on the received expected quality of service information; and transmitting the adaptive assistance data file to the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Ju-Yong Do, Weihua Gao, Amir A. Emadzadeh, Sundar Raman, Gengsheng Zhang
  • Publication number: 20150289225
    Abstract: Techniques for publishing location information associated with a non-geotagged transceiver are disclosed. A method for publishing a position of a non-geotagged transceiver in a wireless communication system includes determining a first position of the non-geotagged transceiver based on a periodic neighbor list, determining a second position of the non-geotagged transceiver based on an accumulated neighbor list, determining if the first position and the second position agree, publishing a third position if the first position and the second position agree, such that the third position is determined based on the union of the periodic neighbor list and the accumulated neighbor list, and resetting the accumulated neighbor list if the first and second position do not agree.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2014
    Publication date: October 8, 2015
    Applicant: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Weihua GAO, Anil R. ADMAL, Gengsheng ZHANG, David Richard COLEMAN, Ashok BHATIA, Arun AGRAWAL, Srimaruti Manoj NIMMAGADDA, Kirk Allan BURROUGHS
  • Patent number: 9154917
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for performing geotagging referencing in both indoor and outdoor environments are presented. In some embodiments, a mobile device may record a digital media object comprising at least one digitally recorded event of a surrounding environment of the mobile device. The mobile device may obtain at least one geotagging datum, the at least one geotagging datum comprising at least one timing measurement from at least one reference source. The mobile device may determine a location of the digital media object using the at least one geotagging datum. The mobile device may then label the digital media object with the location of the digital media object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Weihua Gao, Amir A. Emadzadeh
  • Patent number: 9151824
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for performing crowdsourcing are disclosed. The method may include monitoring environment of a mobile device, determining a level of crowdsourcing in accordance with one or more mobile device generated parameters corresponding to the environment, and performing crowdsourcing in accordance with the level of crowdsourcing determined. The level of crowdsourcing comprises one or more of quantity of crowdsourcing data to be collected by the mobile device, frequency of crowdsourcing operations to be performed by the mobile device, and type of quantization to be applied to the crowdsourcing data collected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Weihua Gao, Sai Pradeep Venkatraman, Ju-Yong Do, Gengsheng Zhang