Cell location estimation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016007147-A1
Application number	US-201414585966-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 30, 2014
Priority date	Jul 2, 2014
Publication date	Jan 7, 2016
Grant date	—

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.

First claim

1 . A method of estimating wireless network coverage, the method comprising:
accumulating, over a period of time, location information received from a plurality of mobile devices located within range of an antenna in a wireless network, wherein the accumulated location information comprises a plurality of location information entries, each location information entry comprising:
location data indicative of a location of a mobile device,
a time indicator associated with the location data, and
an identifier associated with the antenna; and
calculating an approximate coverage region of the antenna, an approximate location of the antenna, or both; wherein:
the calculating is based at least in part on the location data and the identifier of each of the plurality of location information entries, and
the location data is selected based on the time indicator; and
determining, based on calculating, a change in the approximate coverage region of the antenna, the approximate location of the antenna, or both;
wherein determining the change further comprises comparing a first calculation with a second calculation, wherein:
the first calculation is based on a first subset of the plurality of location information entries having corresponding time indicators spanning over a first period within the period of time, and
the second calculation is based on a second subset of the plurality of location information entries having corresponding time indicators spanning over a second period within the period of time, the second period being shorter than the first period; and
communicating at least a portion of an updated almanac to one or more mobile devices.

2 . (canceled)

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the almanac having approximate locations of a plurality of antennas, approximate coverage regions of the plurality of antennas, or both; wherein the updating comprises indicating, in the almanac, the change.

4 . (canceled)

5 . (canceled)

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second period follows the first period.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the second period overlaps with the first period.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises:
determining, for each location information entry of the first subset of the plurality of location information entries, a district corresponding to the location of the mobile device; and using, in the first calculation, a number of unique districts corresponding to the first subset of the plurality of location information entries, wherein the number of unique districts meets a certain minimum threshold.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises:
determining, for each location information entry of the second subset of the plurality of location information entries, a district corresponding to the location of the mobile device; and using, in the second calculation, a number of unique districts corresponding to the second subset of the plurality of location information entries, wherein the number of unique districts meets a certain minimum threshold.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises determining a weighted mean based on location data of at least two location information entries of the plurality of location information entries.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises determining a weighted median based on location data of at least two location information entries of the plurality of location information entries.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating comprises determining, for each location information entry of the plurality of location information entries, representative coordinates of a district corresponding to the location of the mobile device.

13 . A server for estimating wireless network coverage, the server comprising:
a communication interface configured to receive location information from a plurality of mobile devices located within range of an antenna in a wireless network; a memory configured to accumulate the location information over a period of time, wherein the accumulated location information comprises a plurality of location information entries, each location information entry comprising: location data indicative of a location of a mobile device, a time indicator associated with the location data, and an identifier associated with the antenna; and a processor communicatively coupled with the communication interface and the memory and configured to calculate an approximate coverage region of the antenna, an approximate location of the antenna, or both; wherein: the calculating is based at least in part on the location data and the identifier of each of the plurality of location information entries, and the location data is selected based on the time indicator; determine, based on calculating, a change in the approximate coverage region of the antenna, the approximate location of the antenna, or both; wherein determining the change further comprises comparing a first calculation with a second calculation; and wherein: the first calculation is based on a first subset of the plurality of location information entries having corresponding time indicators spanning over a first period within the period of time, and the second calculation is based on a second subset of the plurality of location information entries having corresponding time indicators spanning over a second period within the period of time, the second period being shorter than the first period; and cause the server to communicate, via the communication interface, at least a portion of an updated almanac to multiple mobile devices.

14 . (canceled)

15 . The server of claim 13 , wherein:
the memory is configured to store the almanac comprising approximate locations of a plurality of antennas, and the processor is further configured to cause the server to update the almanac based on the determined change by altering an approximate location of at least one antenna of the plurality of antennas.

16 . (canceled)

17 . (canceled)

18 . The server of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to implement the calculating by:
determining, for each location information entry of the first subset of the plurality of location information entries, a district corresponding to the location of the mobile device; and determining that a number of unique districts corresponding to the first subset of the plurality of location information entries meets a certain minimum threshold.

19 . The server of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to implement the calculating by:
determining, for each location information entry of the second subset of the plurality of location information entries, a district corresponding to the location of the mobile device; and determining that a number of unique districts corresponding to the first subset of the plurality of location information entries meets a certain minimum threshold.

20 . The server of claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to determine, for each location information entry of the plurality of location information entries, representative coordinates of a district corresponding to the location of the mobile device.

21 . An apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, for estimating wireless network coverage, comprising:
means for accumulating, over a period of time, location information received from a plurality of mobile devices located within range of an antenna in a w

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Zhang Gengsheng
• Gao Weihua
• Venkatraman Sai Pradeep

Classifications

• H04W28/0226

  based on location or mobility (handoff or reselection H04W36/00; mobile application services making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02) · CPC title

• H04W4/023

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W4/029 Primary

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title