Position Indicating (e.g., Triangulation) Patents (Class 342/450)
  • Patent number: 9648531
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are described for providing communication services to a mobile platform while moving, wherein the mobile platform communicates along two current communication links extending between the mobile platform and two network gateways. The method comprises: setting an H-VPLS service to enable provisioning of L2 services to the moving platform via at least one of the two current communication links; enabling the moving platform to exchange communications along one or both communication links; replacing one of the two current communication links while the mobile platform is moving, with another communication link extending towards a third network gateway, by using Pseudo Wire Redundancy (PWR) to re-route traffic from the communication link being replaced to the other communication link, thereby allowing the moving platform to continue provisioning the L2 services while communicating with two network gateways, being the third network gateway and one of the former two network gateways.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: ECI TELECOM LTD.
    Inventors: Andrew Sergeev, Asher Besserglick, Oded Mann
  • Patent number: 9641964
    Abstract: A system for managing data related to at least one leaf node device, the system including a location processing engine located on a server that is remote from the at least one leaf node device; at least one point of interest (POI) device for collecting data relating to at least one leaf node device and transmitting the collected data with a timestamp using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE); at least one reader node device for receiving the collected data from the point of interest (POI) device using BLE and transmitting the collected data to the location processing engine; and a database of the known locations of POI devices, wherein the known locations are used as a basis for determining the location of the at least one leaf node device that communicated with the POI device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: CloudLeaf, Inc.
    Inventors: Raghavendra Kulkarni, Sharath Narahari, Ravindar Roopreddy
  • Patent number: 9635557
    Abstract: A system for determining reliability for location resources. A device may be configured to determine device location based on location information received from a location information source, the device including secure systems configured to provide a reliability rating of the location information source. The secure systems may be configured to compare a device location based on the location information to a secondary device location based on secondary information to determine the reliability rating. For example, location information based on location signals received by the device may be compared to sensor information in the device to determine whether the movement described by location information and sensor information agrees. In the same or a different embodiment, a refined reliability rating may be requested from a secure resource in the device or accessible via a network. The secure resource may refine the reliability rating using tertiary information available to the secure resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: INTEL CORPORATION
    Inventor: Steven L. Grobman
  • Patent number: 9628998
    Abstract: A wireless communication network system including: mobile radios mounted on a moving body moving along a predetermined route; and a plurality of immobile radios arranged along the route, adjacent immobile radios wirelessly communicating with each other, to transmit information from a transmission source to a terminal by relaying the information. The mobile radios and the immobile radios communicate with each other by a time division multiple access method, in which time synchronization is performed to allow each of the mobile radios and the immobile radios to communicate in an allocated time slot. The mobile radios are disposed on front and rear parts of the moving body and are capable of communicating with each other. When the moving body is between the immobile radios arranged to be capable of wirelessly communicating with each other, the two mobile radios is capable of relaying information propagation between the immobile radios.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: THE NIPPON SIGNAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Terufumi Yamaguchi, Yuhei Otsuka, Toshihito Shirai, Hideyuki Kato, Masahide Takahashi, Hiroshi Ogihara
  • Patent number: 9615214
    Abstract: Apparatus (30) is configured: to transmit angle-of-departure positioning messages from which a mobile device (11) can calculate a direction to the mobile device from the apparatus (30); and to transmit a point of interest packet data unit for providing a point of interest service to a mobile device (11), the first point of interest packet data unit comprising first data indicating a first range from a first point of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
    Inventors: Jari Tapani Syrjarinne, Juha Salokannel
  • Patent number: 9609615
    Abstract: A method for building a database for fingerprinting positioning including: generating, by a database building device, raw data by collecting received signal strengths (RSSs) for access points (APs) at each sample point (SP); and generating a cluster table by clustering SPs for each of the APs according to the RSS for the AP, using the generated raw data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Jong In Jung
  • Patent number: 9588228
    Abstract: An electronic apparatus includes a selection unit, a storage unit and a processing unit. The selection unit and the storage unit are coupled to the processing unit. The selection unit selects a first reference point proximate to the electronic apparatus. The storage unit stores a plurality of second locations of a plurality of second reference points. The processing unit executes a single-point distance measurement between the electronic apparatus and a first location of the selected first reference point, provides the electronic apparatus auxiliary positioning information by selecting the second locations stored in the storage unit and generates a speculative location of the electronic apparatus by further computing the results of the single-point distance measurement and the auxiliary positioning information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION INDUSTRY
    Inventors: Chih-Hung Li, Dze-Min Jou, Chia-Chyang Chang
  • Patent number: 9582797
    Abstract: Techniques and arrangements for dynamically adjusting item fulfillment times based, in part, on how many mobile electronic devices are currently located at the merchant. If the number is greater than a baseline number of devices by more than a threshold, then an expected wait time may be adjusted upwards. If the number is less than a baseline number of devices by more than a threshold, then the expected wait time may be adjusted downwards.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Square, Inc.
    Inventors: Jason Holmes, Logan Johnson, Ray Ryan, Jotham Taylor, III
  • Patent number: 9585074
    Abstract: A wireless communication system includes: a mobile station; a first base station that communicates with the mobile station; and a second base station that communicates with the mobile station. The mobile station includes a measuring unit, a calculating unit, and a sending unit. The measuring unit measures a location of the mobile station. The calculating unit calculates, by using location information measured by the measuring unit and location information on the first base station, a distance between the mobile station and the first base station. The sending unit sends, to the second base station based on the distance calculated by the calculating unit and a predetermined threshold, a request signal that is used to request setting of a channel between the second base station and the first base station.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: FUJITSU LIMITED
    Inventor: Takayoshi Ode
  • Patent number: 9576295
    Abstract: A method and system for adjusting a process for identifying settings visited by a consumer based at least in part on electronically-derived consumer location data. A method and system are provided for gathering location data for consumers and identifying points of interest (POIs) visited by the consumers based on the location data. Based on a comparison of settings identified by a process to settings that are identified in data collected from external data sources, the system may determine whether to adjust the visit detection process. The system may adjust the visit detection process by adjusting a way in which settings are defined in a data set, by adding or removing settings from a data set, and/or by changing a manner in which the visit detection process determines whether a location corresponds to a setting in the data set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Service Management Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Volpe, Eric H. Weiss, Thaddeus R. F. Fulford-Jones
  • Patent number: 9571205
    Abstract: Disclosed is a system and method of combining optical interference cancellation with other methods of interference cancellation, including electronic cancellation, digital filtering, and beam steering algorithms, to remove co-located interference, remote interference of an unknown origin, and multipath interference components created by reflections of signals both known and unknown.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignees: THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, BASCOM HUNTER TECHNOLOGIES
    Inventors: John Suarez, Paul R. Prucnal, Yanhua Deng, Andrew McCandless
  • Patent number: 9544923
    Abstract: Described are devices, methods, techniques and systems for locating a portable services access transceiver (PSAT) for use in aiding emergency “911” services. In one implementation, one or more conditions indicative of movement of a PSAT may initiate a process for obtaining a new estimated location of the PSAT. In another implementation, a location of a PSAT may be determined or updated using indoor navigation techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Rajarshi Gupta, Saumitra Mohan Das, Douglas Neal Rowitch, Vinay Sridhara
  • Patent number: 9544749
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for emergency communications using dual satellite communication systems for redundancy and a means of providing additional information to rescue services support emergency response. The system combines the Cospas-Sarsat emergency system for 406 beacons with a secondary means of distress alerting over a commercial satellite system as well as permitting the government agencies responsible for emergency services to directly interface with the person in distress to know about his/her location and to communicate with him or her to resolve the emergency in the best possible way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Inventors: Christopher Paul Hoffman, William Cox, Thomas J. Pack
  • Patent number: 9541404
    Abstract: In one aspect, GPS data, ambient signal data, radio frequency data and/or other types of data are used to determine the location of an entrance to an area or a building. In another aspect, sequential trajectory data is collected and the data is analyzed and/or processed to determine the location of an area of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jun Yang, Yifei Jiang, Koichi Mori, Shalinder S. Sidhu
  • Patent number: 9538493
    Abstract: A location system and applications therefor is disclosed for wireless telecommunication infrastructures. The system is an end-to-end solution having one or more location systems for outputting requested locations of handsets or mobile stations (MS) based on, e.g., CDMA, GSM, GPRS, TDMA or WIFI communication standards, for processing both local mobile station location requests and more global mobile station location requests via, e.g., Internet communication between a distributed network of location systems. The following applications may be enabled by the location system: 911 emergency calls, tracking, navigation, people and animal location including applications for confinement to and exclusion from certain areas, friend finder applications, and applications for allocating user desired resources based on the user's location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: FineTrak, LLC
    Inventors: Dennis J. Dupray, Sheldon F. Goldberg, Frederick W. Leblanc, Charles L. Karr
  • Patent number: 9538328
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for estimating whether or not a wireless terminal is in a geographic zone. The illustrative embodiment employs a pattern classifier that is trained on traits of electromagnetic signals at various locations. A computer-executable program is then generated based on the trained pattern classifier, and the program is installed and executed on a subscribed identity module of the terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: Polaris Wireless, Inc.
    Inventors: Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya, Martin Feuerstein, Scot Douglas Gordon
  • Patent number: 9531867
    Abstract: An exemplary method includes a voice quality assessment system receiving, from a mobile telephone operating on a mobile network, a test record that includes network indicator data and radio frequency (“RF”) data both measured by the mobile telephone while the mobile telephone is at a location within the mobile network, and applying the network indicator data and the RF data to a voice quality model built using data provided by a plurality of mobile telephones operating on the mobile network in order to generate a voice quality score that quantifies a quality of voice communications for the mobile telephone at the location within the mobile network. Corresponding systems and methods are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
    Inventors: Ye Ouyang, Carol Becht, Krishna Pichumani Iyer
  • Patent number: 9510315
    Abstract: The present invention comprises a system and method for determining an estimated position of a wireless mobile client device operating in a communications environment covered by a wireless local area network. The received signal strength of the wireless mobile client device is measured by one or more access points serving devices in the communications environment. In a preferred embodiment, the error between the received signal strength measured by the access points and the expected received signal strength at a plurality of locations in the communications environment is calculated. The location of the device is determined from the error.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Aruba Networks, Inc.
    Inventors: Gordon P. Gray, Anthony G. Burke
  • Patent number: 9507007
    Abstract: An autonomous system with no Customer Network Investment is described, wherein the system is configurable to operate on a band other than the LTE band. Such system allows the definition of hybrid operations to accommodate the positioning reference signals (PRS) of LTE and already existing reference signals. The system can operate with PRS, with other reference signals such as cell-specific reference signals (CRS), or with both signal types. As such, the system provides the advantage of allowing network operator(s) to dynamically choose between modes of operation depending on circumstances, such as network throughput and compatibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: POLTE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Felix Markhovsky, Truman Prevatt
  • Patent number: 9505420
    Abstract: A train control system includes: an on-board device 3 mounted on a train 2 travelling on a track 1; a vehicle radio set 7 that transmits and receives travel distance information and speed information of the train 2 obtained by the on-board device 3; a wayside radio set 8 disposed at a predetermined location of the track 1 and transmitting information to and receives information from the vehicle radio set 7; and a ground device 9 connected to the wayside radio set 8, in which the ground device 9 obtains a location of the train 2 based on the travel distance information and the speed information of the train 2 transmitted from the on-board device 3, and sets a safety buffer on each of a travelling direction side of the train 2 and the opposite side thereof, the safety buffer being only set to be longer, during train 2 travelling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: THE NIPPON SIGNAL CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yasushi Tsukamoto
  • Patent number: 9506762
    Abstract: An information processing device can receive a positioning signal that is transmitted from a transmitting device. The information processing device includes an input reception unit for receiving an input of a destination and for identifying first location information including first floor number information, the first floor number information indicating a floor number of the destination in a structure including the destination, a retrieval unit for retrieving second location information including second floor number information from the positioning signal, the second floor number information indicating a floor number on which the transmitting device is provided in a structure in which the transmitting device is provided, and a calculation unit for calculating a route from a current location of the information processing device to the destination by using the first location information and the second location information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Shinji Aoki
  • Patent number: 9504000
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention address how trilateration processes, used to obtain a location of a mobile computing device, are affected by physical placement and sub-optimal selection of peer devices (PDs). Embodiments of the invention describe processes for selecting nearest PDs over further PDs, as received signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurements are more reliable—i.e., said “nearest PDs” provide more accurate distance measurements while improving the probability of finding more intersection points. Embodiments of the invention selectively utilize abnormal location poll data when executing location determination processes. Embodiments of the invention further enhance trilateration processes by utilizing dampening values for calculated location poll data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Robert A. Colby, Sigal Louchheim, Justin Lipman, Xiaoyong Pan
  • Patent number: 9479944
    Abstract: A method of deriving cell characteristic values for cells within a wireless communication network. The method for determining a set of cells for which cell characteristic values are to be derived, and using a genetic algorithm to derive cell characteristic values for the set of cells based at least partly on measurement data obtained by wireless communication subscriber units within the wireless communication network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: Viavi Solutions UK Limited
    Inventors: Stefan Thiel, Peter Kenington, Gareth Smith, Michael Joseph Flanagan
  • Patent number: 9473890
    Abstract: A method, wireless device and computer program product provides geo-fence based services in a wireless communications network. The wireless device (i) determines a current location; (ii) retrieves first settings of a first geo-fence; (iii) implements a geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the first geo-fence; and (iv) in response to determining that the current location is not within the first geo-fence: (a) accesses data associated with one of an activity at past locations inside and outside of the first geo-fence; (b) associates with the first geo-fence at least one past location that is outside of the first geo-fence; (c) expands the first settings of the first geo-fence to second settings to include the at least one past location; and (d) implements the geo-fencing policy in response to determining that the current location is within the first geo-fence based on the second settings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC
    Inventors: Feng Liu, Riya B Nair
  • Patent number: 9459342
    Abstract: A radar device capable of reducing load of a clustering process and improving the tracking performance is provided. A tracking calculation unit 116 of a radar device 100 performs a clustering process, in which an input detected data set is grouped into clusters, and a tracking process, in which an averaged value and a prediction value are calculated for each of the clusters. In the radar device 100, the shape of cluster areas for grouping the detected data is defined to be a fan shape. The clustering process and tracking process using fan-shaped cluster areas can reduce the load of the clustering process and improve the tracking performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignees: FURUKAWA ELECTRIC CO., LTD., FURUKAWA AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS INC.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Itohara, Yasushi Aoyagi
  • Patent number: 9462461
    Abstract: Systems and methods related to the provision of location based services via a mobile communications device. In some cases, a plurality of mobile communication devices can be tracked, based on a user's preferences, and data regarding the locations of that plurality of mobile communication devices can be sent to the user's device. In a particular aspect, for example, the user's device might display a map showing the locations of some or all of the plurality of mobile communication devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: Qwest Communications International Inc.
    Inventor: Steven M. Casey
  • Patent number: 9432896
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing mobility across satellite beams, are described. The system includes a first core node, a second core node in communication with the first core node at layer-2 of the OSI model (L2), and a first gateway in communication, at L2, with the first core, the first gateway configured to provide access to a first spot beam at a first location. The system further includes a second gateway in communication, at L2, with the second core node, the second gateway configure to provide access to a second spot beam at a second location, and a mobile device, at the first location, in communication with the first gateway via the first spot beam, wherein the mobile device is assigned an IP address by the first core node. The mobile device moves from the first location to the second location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: ViaSat, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Foxworthy, Girish Chandran, Jason Lau
  • Patent number: 9426657
    Abstract: Beacon devices transmit beacon messages that may be used to alert an application on a user device, e.g., a mobile phone, of the beacon device's proximity. Some embodiments contemplate a beacon device configured to transmit a pattern of successive beacon messages and/or Bluetooth Low Energy broadcast messages at one or more different power levels. The pattern of power levels may securely identify the beacon device. For example, the mobile phone application may confirm with a network server that the pattern agrees with the beacon device's identity. The pattern may also serve a calibration function. Where the mobile device application has knowledge of the expected power levels in the pattern, the application can infer from weaker transmissions that the beacon device is further from the mobile device. The weaker power levels may also indicate the character of the transmission environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignee: FACEBOOK, INC.
    Inventors: Mateusz Marek Niewczas, Manish Modi
  • Patent number: 9419930
    Abstract: A method, system, and/or computer program product manages message connections in a computer infrastructure. A processor connects a client to a messaging component over a connection. Identification information of a destination message queue that the client intends to communicate to the messaging component is provided, and a reference of the destination message queue is received. Based on the received reference, a respective messaging component that has the destination message queue localized is identified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Sharath C. Basavanna, Chethan Bhat, Lohitashwa Thyagaraj
  • Patent number: 9420413
    Abstract: The present invention proposes a pushing method based on location information, comprising: recording a plurality of areas passed by a user; obtaining a resident area of the user according to the frequencies at which the user uses an electronic map in the plurality of areas, and pushing, when it is judged that the user enters a new area from the resident area, point of interest information in the new area to the user according to the point of interest information about the user in the resident area. The method in the embodiments of the present invention fully exploits the interests of a user and performs personalized customization, may better meet and inspire the needs of the user, and is widely applicable and easy to expand. The present invention also discloses a pushing system and server based on location information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Beijing Baidu Netcom Science And Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hua Lin, Jun Luo, Hongxian Du
  • Patent number: 9411035
    Abstract: A method for angle estimation verification, adapted for verifying an estimated angle calculated by an electronic apparatus having an angle estimator and at least three antennas, is provided. The estimated angle is extracted from the angle estimator. An autocorrelation matrix is generated according to a signal vector formed by a plurality of measurements of a received signal received by each of the antennas so as to obtain a plurality of eigenvalues. Among phase difference data generated by a plurality of antenna groups formed by all different combinations of two of the antennas, a plurality of possible estimated angles corresponding to the phase difference data not caused by a coterminal angle effect are calculated. According to the eigenvalues and the possible estimated angles, whether the received signal corresponds to a single target or multiple targets is determined so as to verify the reliability of the estimated angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: National Chiao Tung University
    Inventors: Tsung-Yu Tsai, Chung-Jung Huang, Ta-Sung Lee
  • Patent number: 9407317
    Abstract: The differential ultra-wideband indoor positioning method provides differential positioning to increase the accuracy of ultra-wideband (UWB) based indoor position estimation. Knowledge about common errors can be learned by employment of a reference source, where the difference between its known and estimated position (differential operation in solution domain), or the difference between the known and measured ranges (differential operation in measurement domain), provides invaluable information to be utilized in reducing errors in estimating the position of the target source. Differential operation accuracy reaches far beyond the accuracy of the non-differential setting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: UMM AL-QURA UNIVERSITY
    Inventor: Mohamed Khalaf-Allah
  • Patent number: 9407352
    Abstract: A dual-satellite emergency locator beacon and method for programming and updating such emergency locator beacons over the air. The system uses a second commercial satellite as the carrier for the data back to the beacon together with the means of coupling these parts together. The system can be manually updated or can be part of a registration system that gets automatically updated. In a second embodiment a method and apparatus for implementing emergency locator beacon registration is provided. The system provides data concerning the user into a backend service which can be utilized to provide all necessary information needed to register the emergency beacon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: ACR ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Christopher Paul Hoffman, William Cox, Thomas J. Pack
  • Patent number: 9402155
    Abstract: A method and corresponding system for providing an indication of one or more states of a geographic area. The method includes acquiring sensor data including sensor measurements taken by a plurality of mobile devices at a plurality of locations and acquiring location data corresponding to the plurality of locations of the sensor measurements. At least one processor determines one or more states of a geographic area corresponding to the plurality of locations based on the sensor data, and an indication is provided of the one or more states of the geographic area to a particular user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Location Labs, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Weiss, Scott Hotes
  • Patent number: 9395442
    Abstract: A computer aided dispatch (CAD) center operator can view a displayed location indicator indicative of a last location of a public safety (PS) device on a geographic information system (GIS) map, together with a displayed confidence indicator indicative of the likelihood that the displayed last location of the PS device is accurate, for use in dispatching a PS person to an incident scene, or locating the PS person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, INC.
    Inventors: Daniel J Pacholski, Anthony R Metke
  • Patent number: 9389302
    Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for real-time location estimation of a mobile station (MS) on a map of roads using non-Global Positioning Satellite location data of the MS and includes a step of determining that the MS is stationary. A next step includes assigning each raw location datum with an initial mass such that the data exhibit an attractive force therebetween. A next step includes calculating a net attractive force for all data using a distance between the data. A next step includes moving each datum a normalized step on the map in response to the net attractive force. A next step includes merging any data that are within a predefined distance on the map and adding their masses. A next step includes repeating the calculating, moving, and merging steps until there are no consecutive merges for a predetermined number of iterations. A next step includes removing any datum with a mass less than a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Hong-Lei Liu, Kwok Lam Cheung, Sheng-Yu Hu, XiaoHui Shen
  • Patent number: 9384215
    Abstract: A file creation method comprising: creating file content at a particular location and time using a portable device; and obtaining data from wireless communication devices detectable by the portable device at the particular location and time thereby to obtain a set of data. The set of data identifies or enables identification of the wireless communication devices. The method further comprises associating the set of data and time with the file content to enable subsequent analysis to determine the particular location using a time-dependent database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: u-blox AG
    Inventors: Johan Peeters, Andrew Thomas Yule, Graham Thomason
  • Patent number: 9374676
    Abstract: Mobile communication stations (STA) and a method for position estimation in a wireless network having access points (APs) are disclosed. The STA is configured to perform position estimation operations, with respect to the APs, based on a position latency parameter, a rate parameter, a power parameter, and an accuracy parameter. An upper layer of the STA may send the parameters to a position provider that generates the position estimation measurements and transmits the results back to the upper layer wherein the results include the position of the STA prior to the present time and the length of time from the present time to the time that the STA was at that particular position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Leor Banin, Yuval Amizur, Uri Schatzberg
  • Patent number: 9369982
    Abstract: This disclosure describes systems, methods, and computer-readable media related to employing particle filter methods to estimate the location of a mobile device. The data may include wireless data measurement associated with the mobile device and one or more access points and inertial data associated with the mobile device. Radio fingerprinting data associated with the one or more access points may be retrieved. A respective location for the wireless data measurements may be determined based on the radio fingerprinting data and inertial data. A respective weight may be calculated for the respective location for each of the plurality of particles. A respective confidence level may be maintained for the respective location for each of the plurality of particles. A current location may be identified based on the respective location for each of the plurality of particles and the respective weight associated with the respective location for each of the particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Shao-Wen Yang, Lei Yang, Xue Sharon Yang
  • Patent number: 9360547
    Abstract: An ultra wideband (UWB) or short-pulse RF system is disclosed that can be used to precisely locate or track objects (such as personnel, equipment, assets, etc.) in real-time in an arbitrarily large, physically connected or disconnected, multipath and/or noisy environment. A system implementation includes multiple zones or groups of receivers that receives RF signals transmitted by one or more timing reference tags and one or more objects having associated object tags. Each zone or group may share a common receiver. By combining a multiple reference tag system with a virtual group of receivers, i.e., a zoning technique or system, a cost-effective system can be provided that offers scalability and flexibility to monitor a significantly expanded coverage area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: ZIH CORP.
    Inventors: Aitan Ameti, Keming Chen, Robert J. Fontana, Edward A. Richley, Belinda Turner
  • Patent number: 9338740
    Abstract: Various embodiments provide a method and apparatus of providing wireless access point selection based on performance metric(s) and signal strength. In particular, a client selecting between one of a number of wireless access points bases the selection decision on performance metrics as well as signal strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Alcatel Lucent
    Inventors: Katherine H. Guo, Thomas Woo
  • Patent number: 9319844
    Abstract: A system and method is described that computes an estimated current location for a client device based on both the detected current location and the predicted current location of the client device. By utilizing the predicted current location, the system and method may account for and compensate for anomalies and inaccuracies in the detected current location. Accordingly, the system and method provides a more accurate estimation for the current location of the client device based on examination of heuristics and a priori environmental data. In particular, the system and method compensates for detected locations that are impossible or improbable based on previous locations of the client device, the layout of the environment in which the client device is traversing, data describing the user of the client device, and/or data describing the client device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: ARUBA NETWORKS, INC.
    Inventors: Abhishek R. Singh, Anant Kumar, Varun A. Shah
  • Patent number: 9319834
    Abstract: A system and method for user interaction includes a network, a server connected to the network, a supervisor device receiving information from a global positioning system and connected to the network, a user device receiving information from the global positioning system and connected to the network. The supervisor, having the supervisor device, defines a set of virtual geographic zones and sub-zones in which the user device is tracked, and saves the set of virtual geographic zones and sub-zones to a supervisor account on the server. The user downloads a user application, sets-up a user account, and downloads the set of virtual geographic zones and sub-zones. As the user, having the user device, moves through the virtual geographic zones and sub-zones the location of the user device is determined and a set of supervisor-defined actions are executed on the user device based on the location of the user device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Inventors: Robert L. Pierce, II, James L. Northrup
  • Patent number: 9311352
    Abstract: The present invention is a system and method for external equipment monitoring. The presenting invention uses a network of sensor-devices that constitute a system that provides information about entities within a facility, where entities may mean industrial equipment, personnel, parts, raw materials, etc. The invention allows the entities to be tracked; monitored and optimized without input from a user of what type of entity or what type of entity it is (e.g., users, rooms, etc. can be monitored. The present invention uses devices that do not require an electronic connection to the entity and with the ability for one entity to monitor the activity of another entity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Inventor: Michael Zeinfeld
  • Patent number: 9305458
    Abstract: When two or more devices are near each other, they are likely to hear the same ambient sounds. To detect such proximity, each device captures a short digital audio signal from its microphone and uploads it to a proximity-detecting service along with a timestamp that indicates when the clip was captured. The proximity-detecting service maintains a history of sound clips for its clients and analyzes recently received sound clips that have similar time stamps. The devices can then be grouped according to the similarities of their sound clips. Devices that are grouped together in this way are deemed to be near each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2016
    Assignee: ZIPSOCKET, INC.
    Inventors: Ali Rahimi, Gianluca Iannaccone
  • Patent number: 9294500
    Abstract: A server creates categorization-based application policies and selects a specific policy to send to a mobile communications device. In one embodiment, the mobile communication device applies the categorization-based application policy received from the server to information about a data object (e.g., application) that the device wants to access (or has accessed). Based on the application of the categorization-based policy, the device may be permitted to access the data object or the device may not be permitted to access the data object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: LOOKOUT, INC.
    Inventor: Kevin Patrick Mahaffey
  • Patent number: 9282433
    Abstract: Described are devices, methods, techniques and systems for locating a portable services access transceiver (PSAT) for use in aiding emergency “911” services. In one implementation, one or more conditions indicative of movement of a PSAT may initiate a process for obtaining a new estimated location of the PSAT. In another implementation, a location of a PSAT may be determined or updated using indoor navigation techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Rajarshi Gupta, Saumitra Mohan Das, Douglas Neal Rowitch, Vinay Sridhara
  • Patent number: 9282436
    Abstract: An example method includes connecting to a call center by a user equipment (UE) device via a voice call and receiving a request for a current location. The device is determined to be in an outdoor environment if the signal strength of satellite signals used by a global positioning system (GPS) is greater than a threshold. The device is determined to be in an indoor environment if a beacon signal strength is greater than a further threshold. If the device is in an outdoor environment, the current location is determined using a standalone or assisted GPS method. If the device is in an indoor environment, the current location is the known location of the beacon or an assisted GPS method. If neither the signal strength of the satellite signals nor the signal strength of the beacon exceeds its respective threshold, the current location is determined as a last stored location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: Cellco Partnership
    Inventors: Monica Chitre, Yoganand Rajala, Peter C. Bates, Paul Tuscano, Matt Nadler, Brent Robert Blum
  • Patent number: 9271120
    Abstract: A commercial frequency-modulated (FM) radio signal indoor localization system and method for finding a location of a mobile embedded device (such as a smartphone) within a building. Indoor localization is performed by receiving commercial FM radio signals on the device, analyzing the signals using signal quality metrics, and generating signal quality vectors for each signal and signal quality metric used for the signal. The signal quality metric can be any physical signal quality indicator. The signal quality vectors are added to obtain a current location fingerprint. The current location fingerprint is compared to fingerprints stored in a fingerprint database. The location associated with the stored fingerprint that is the closest match to the current fingerprint location is designated as the current location in the building of the mobile embedded device. Locally generated radio signals can be used in conjunction with the commercial FM radio signals to improve localization accuracy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Dimitrios Lymberopoulos, Jie Liu, Nissanka Arachchige Bodhi Priyantha, Yin Chen
  • Patent number: 9264919
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for estimating performance in a mobile network, a method for generating a performance map, use of such methods, a network management system, and a network node in the mobile network for performing the methods. The exemplary method including receiving localized user equipment measurements from a user equipment in the mobile network, including the user equipment measurements in sets and determining at least one antenna characteristics model for the set of user equipment measurements. A path loss model is determined for the user equipment measurements. A localized performance measurement is determined by deducting an estimated antenna impact from the estimated path loss for the user equipment measurement. The operations are repeated to generate a spatial performance map for the mobile network, wherein updates of the spatial performance map are based on further user equipment measurements from the user equipment in the mobile network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: Optis Cellular Technology, LLC
    Inventors: Fredrik Gunnarsson, Mehdi Amirijoo, Johan Moe