Validating and using map data for positioning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12262280-B2
Application number	US-202117391988-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2021
Priority date	Aug 4, 2020
Publication date	Mar 25, 2025
Grant date	Mar 25, 2025

Abstract

A method being for facilitating positioning determination of a UE includes: obtaining motion information indicative of motion of the UE; obtaining positioning information based on positioning signals received by the UE; determining a validity status of map data based on whether the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the map data, that include locations of physical environmental features, are consistent, wherein the validity status is determined to be valid in response to the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the map data being consistent; and determining at least one of a position estimate for the UE, or a direction of motion of the UE, based on the map data and based on the validity status being valid.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
a receiver configured to receive positioning signals;
a sensor configured to provide sensor output data;
a memory; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the receiver, the sensor, and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to:
obtain positioning information based on the positioning signals;
obtain motion of the UE based on the sensor output data;
obtain available map data that includes locations of physical environmental features;
select at least a portion of the available map data based on the motion of the UE;
determine a validity status of the portion of the available map data based on whether the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the portion of the available map data are consistent, wherein the processor is configured to determine the validity status of the portion of the available map data as valid in response to the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the portion of the available map data being consistent, and as invalid otherwise; and
determine at least one of a position estimate for the UE and a direction of motion of the UE constrained by the portion of the available map data based on the validity status of the portion of the available map data being valid and without being constrained by the portion of the available map data based on the validity status of the portion of the available map data being invalid.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine, based on the portion of the available map data, based on the validity status of the portion of the available map data being valid, and based on one or more first respective positioning signal measurements, a first portion of positioning information to use to determine the at least one of the position estimate for the UE or the direction of motion of the UE.

3. The UE of claim 2 , wherein the first portion of positioning information includes at least one of a pseudorange or a Doppler measurement.

4. The UE of claim 2 , wherein to determine the at least one of the position estimate for the UE or the direction of motion of the UE the processor is configured to disregard a second portion of the positioning information, based on one or more second respective positioning signal measurements, that has a corresponding cross-track component above a threshold value.

5. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the at least one of the position estimate for the UE or the direction of motion of the UE based on the map data only if the validity status of the portion of the available map data is valid.

6. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to change the validity status of the portion of the available map data, from valid to invalid or from invalid to valid as appropriate, in response to determining that a consistency of the positioning information, the portion of the available map data, and the motion of the UE changed.

7. The UE of claim 1 , wherein to determine whether the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the portion of the available map data are consistent the processor is configured to:
determine the portion of the available map data based on the positioning information; and
determine whether the motion of the UE is consistent with a subset of the physical environmental features corresponding to the portion of the available map data.

8. The UE of claim 7 , wherein to determine whether the motion of the UE is consistent with the subset of the physical environmental features corresponding to the portion of the available map data the processor is configured to determine whether the motion of the UE is less than a threshold amount of motion in a particular direction, the threshold amount of motion being based on the physical environmental features corresponding to the portion of the available map data.

9. The UE of claim 7 , wherein to determine whether the motion of the UE is consistent with the subset of the physical environmental features corresponding to the portion of the available map data the processor is configured to determine whether the motion of the UE indicates at least one of that the UE has exited a UE-acceptable area, that the UE has entered a UE-unacceptable area, that the UE is following a UE-acceptable trajectory, or that the UE has deviated from the UE-acceptable trajectory.

10. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
means for sensing motion of the UE and producing output data indicative of the motion of the UE;
means for obtaining positioning information based on positioning signals received by the UE;
means for obtaining motion of the UE based on the sensor output data;
means for obtaining available map data that includes locations of physical environmental features;
means for selecting at least a portion of the available map data based on the motion of the UE;
validity status means for determining a validity status of the portion of the available map data based on whether the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the portion of the available map data are consistent, wherein the validity status means are for determining the validity status of the portion of the available map data as valid in response to the positioning information, the motion of the UE, and the portion of the available map data being consistent, and as invalid otherwise; and
first determining means for determining at least one of a position estimate for the UE and a direction of motion of the UE constrained by the portion of the available map data based on the validity status of the portion of the available map data being valid and without being constrained by the portion of the available map data based on the validity status of the portion of the available map data being invalid.

11. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the first determining means comprise means for determining, based on the portion of the available map data, based on the validity status of the portion of the available map data being valid, and based on one or more first respective positioning signal measurements, a first portion of the positioning information to use to determine the at least one of the position estimate for the UE or the direction of motion of the UE.

12. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the first portion of the positioning information includes at least one of a pseudorange or a Doppler measurement.

13. The UE of claim 11 , wherein the first determining means comprise means for disregarding a second portion of the positioning information, based on one or more second respective positioning signal measurements, that has a corresponding cross-track component above a threshold value.

14. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the first determining means include means for determining the at least one of the position estimate for the UE or the direction of motion of the UE based on the map data only if the validity status of the portion of the available map data is valid.

15. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the validity status means include means for changing the validity status of the portion of the available map data, from valid to invalid or from invalid to valid as appropriate, in response to determining that a consistency of the positioning information, the portion of the available map data, and the motion of the UE changed.

16. The UE of claim 10 , wherein the validity status means comprise:
second determining means for determining the portion of the available map data based on the positioning information; and
third determining means for determining whether the motion of the UE is cons

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Nagori Neha
• Zhang Han
• Shah Himanshu
• Lakhzouri Abdelmonaem
• Morrison William

Classifications

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/025

  using location based information parameters · CPC title

• H04W4/027 Primary

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• G01S5/0269 Primary

  Inferred or constrained positioning, e.g. employing knowledge of the physical or electromagnetic environment, state of motion or other contextual information to infer or constrain a position · CPC title