Atheros Communications, Inc.

Qualcomm Incorporated

Qualcomm Atheros Inc.

Athentek Innovations, Inc.

Yi-Hsiu Wang

Jeffrey M Gilbert

Won-Joon Choi

Qinfang Sun

Ardavan Maleki Tehrani

David S De Lorenzo

Huanchun Ye

John S Thomson

Ivy H Tseng

William John McFarland

Ning Zhang

Xiaoru Zhang

Tao-Fei Samuel Ng

Lars E Thon

Paul J Husted

Per Kristian Enge

Dennis Hilgenberg

Teresa H Meng

Michael Richard Green

Paul J Hustad

Accurate position capability can be quickly provided using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). When associated with a WLAN, a wireless device can quickly determine its relative and/or coordinate position based on information provided by an access point in the WLAN. Before a wireless device disassociates with the access point, the WLAN can periodically provide time, location, and decoded GPS data to the wireless device. In this manner, the wireless device can significantly reduce the time to acquire the necessary GPS satellite data (i.e. on the order if seconds instead of minutes) to determine its coordinate position.

Positioning with wireless local area networks and WLAN-aided global positioning systems

An indoor positioning system determines the location of a mobile device by comparing measured signal strengths to a database determined via offline calibration. Automated maintenance and repair of the database are facilitated by accurately characterizing indoor radio signal propagation. Systems and methods for updating a signal strength database are disclosed. In one variation, a computer-implemented method of discovering a new or moved wireless access point (AP) within an indoor environment involves flagging one of the wireless APs as the new or moved AP; determining a location of the new or moved AP using information from at least one of an installation log and an AP location solver; determining transmit strengths and estimated received signal strengths of signals transmitted from calibration reference points (RPs) to the AP using a spatially-dependent path-loss model; and adding the transmit strengths and estimated received signal strengths to the signal strength database.

System and methods for learning wireless transceiver locations and updating a spatially-dependent path-loss model

An indoor positioning system determines the location of a mobile device by comparing measured signal strengths to a database determined during offline calibration. Automated creation, maintenance, and repair of the database are facilitated by accurately characterizing indoor radio signal propagation. Systems and methods for generating spatially-dependent path-loss models are disclosed. In one variation, a computer-implemented method of generating a spatially-dependent path-loss model involves dividing a coordinate-plane representing an indoor environment into non-overlapping tiles; obtaining transmit and received signal strengths of radio signals generated by and measured at a number of wireless access points positioned throughout the indoor environment; calculating vectors which represent the traversal distances of the tiles by each of the radio signals; and solving a system of path-loss equations relating the transmit signal strengths, the received signal strengths, and the distance vectors to determine values for tile-specific path-loss coefficients for each of the tiles within the indoor environment.

Systems and methods for learning wireless transceiver locations and updating a spatially-dependent path-loss model

An indoor positioning system determines the location of a mobile device by comparing measured signal strengths to a database determined via offline calibration. Automated maintenance and repair of the database are facilitated by accurately characterizing indoor radio signal propagation. Systems and methods for generating spatially-dependent path-loss models are disclosed. In one variation, a computer-implemented method of generating a spatially-dependent path-loss model involves dividing a coordinate-plane representing an indoor environment into non-overlapping tiles; obtaining transmit and received signal strengths of radio signals generated by a calibration device at a number of reference points and measured at a number of wireless access points; calculating vectors which represent the traversal distances of the tiles by each of the radio signals; and solving a system of path-loss equations relating the transmit signal strengths, the received signal strengths, and the distance vectors to determine values for tile-specific path-loss coefficients for each of the tiles.

Systems and methods to generate safe zones and safe routes associated with a device are disclosed. These safe zones and safe routes can be used to map complicated location behavior into location behavior scores that can be applied systematically to tracking and authentication applications.

Systems and methods to determine safe zones and safe routes of a device

Accurate position capability can be quickly provided using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN). When associated with a WLAN, a wireless device can quickly determine its relative and/or coordinate position based on information provided by an access point in the WLAN. Before a wireless device disassociates with the access point, the WLAN can periodically provide time, location, and decoded GPS data to the wireless device. In this manner, the wireless device can significantly reduce the time to acquire the necessary GPS satellite data (i.e. on the order of seconds instead of minutes) to determine its coordinate position.

GPS receivers obtain GPS navigation data from acquired GPS satellites and determine a position of the GPS receiver. However, the GPS receivers may not always be in view of the GPS satellites or may receive GPS signals that are too weak to decode. Moreover, assisted GPS techniques rely on the ability of the GPS receivers to connect to auxiliary channels to receive navigation data, which might not always be possible. Functionality for powerline-aided GPS can be implemented to provide the navigation data, with varying levels of accuracy via a powerline network, when the GPS satellites are not in view of the GPS receiver. Moreover, the GPS receiver can use the navigation data to determine the position of the GPS receiver and/or to synchronize a local clock in the GPS receiver. Receiving the navigation data can ensure that the GPS receiver has a fast time to first fix.

Powerline-aided satellite-based navigation system

Satellite-based navigation techniques can help determine a user's position on a map and can also determine directions to a destination. Functionality can be implemented to determine the user's orientation and direction of motion based on a captured image taken in the direction of motion. The captured image may be preprocessed to compensate for a camera angle and to vary image properties before being transmitted to a server. The user's orientation may be determined based, at least in part, on knowledge of a user's position on a map and comparing the captured image to a set of other images. Walking directions can accordingly be tailored based on the user's orientation.

Image-aided positioning and navigation system

A method for determining portions of a GPS satellite signal may use non-coherent integration to determine a repeated pattern such as a preamble. Once the repeated pattern is determined, portions of the GPS satellite signal that may be determined with partial correlation sums. Sensitivity to satellite signals may be increased by computing more partial correlation sums on portions of the GPS satellite signal. In one embodiment, time of day information may be determined from the GPS satellite signal with partial correlation sums.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Yi-Hsiu Wang