Vlc-based vector field fingerprint mapping

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016258761-A1
Application number	US-201514959681-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 4, 2015
Priority date	Mar 3, 2015
Publication date	Sep 8, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of determining data of a fingerprint map includes: obtaining visible light communication signals at a mobile device; determining yaw of the mobile device using the visible light communication signals; obtaining roll and pitch of the mobile device; determining a transformation of a mobile-device coordinate system to a reference coordinate system using the roll, pitch, and yaw; obtaining first indications of vector components of a field at a location of the mobile device; and sending, to a server, the first indications and the transformation; or determining second indications of vector components of the field using the first indications and the transformation, the second indications being indicative of vector components at the location of the mobile device in the reference coordinate system, and sending, to the server, the second indications; or sending the first indications to the server, and determining and sending the second indications to the server.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of determining data of a fingerprint map, the method comprising:
obtaining visible light communication signals at a mobile device; determining an indication of yaw of the mobile device relative to a reference coordinate system using the visible light communication signals; obtaining an indication of roll of the mobile device relative to the reference coordinate system; obtaining an indication of pitch of the mobile device relative to the reference coordinate system; determining a transformation of a mobile-device coordinate system of the mobile device to the reference coordinate system using the indication of roll, the indication of pitch, and the indication of yaw of the mobile device relative to the reference coordinate system; obtaining first indications of vector components of a field at a location of the mobile device, the vector components of the field defining the field; and
sending, to a server, the first indications of vector components of the field and the transformation; or
determining second indications of vector components of the field using the first indications of vector components of the field and the transformation, the second indications of vector components of the field being indicative of vector components of the field at the location of the mobile device in the reference coordinate system, and sending, to the server, the second indications of vector components of the field; or
sending the first indications of vector components of the field to the server, determining the second indications of vector components of the field using the first indications of vector components of the field and the transformation, and sending the second indications of vector components of the field to the server.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first indications of vector components of the field include an indication of each of an x-component, a y-component, and a z-component of the field in the mobile-device coordinate system, and the second indications of vector components of the field include an indication of each of an x-component, a y-component, and a z-component of the field in the reference coordinate system.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein obtaining the first indications of vector components of the field comprises measuring respective magnetic field components.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the indication of roll of the mobile device comprises obtaining measurements from a gyroscope and an accelerometer of the mobile device and sending the indication of roll to the server, obtaining the indication of pitch of the mobile device comprises obtaining measurements from the gyroscope and the accelerometer of the mobile device and sending the indication of pitch to the server, and determining the second indications of vector components of the field comprises the server determining the second indications of vector components of the field.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises determining the second indications of vector components of the field, the method further comprising:
obtaining the location of the mobile device corresponding to the first indications of vector components of the field; and combining the second indications of vector components of the field at the location of the mobile device with other second indications of vector components of the field with a location proximate to the location of the mobile device to determine aggregate indications of vector components of the field associated with the location of the mobile device.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
sending the aggregate indications of vector components of the field associated with the location of the mobile device to the server; and receiving the fingerprint map from the server, the fingerprint map corresponding to a venue including the location of the mobile device.

7 . The method of claim 5 , wherein obtaining the visible light communication signals at the mobile device comprises capturing black-and-white images with an exposure duration of less than 100 microseconds.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the visible light communication signals at the mobile device comprises capturing images with a resolution of no more than 400,000 pixels.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the location of the mobile device using the visible light communication signals.

10 . A mobile device comprising:
a camera configured to obtain visible light communication signals; a first orientation sensor configured to obtain an indication of roll of the mobile device relative to a reference coordinate system; a second orientation sensor configured to obtain an indication of pitch of the mobile device relative to the reference coordinate system; and a processor communicatively coupled to the camera, to the first orientation sensor, and to the second orientation sensor and configured to:
determine an indication of yaw of the mobile device relative to the reference coordinate system using the visible light communication signals;
determine a transformation of a mobile-device coordinate system of the mobile device to the reference coordinate system using the indication of roll, the indication of pitch, and the indication of yaw of the mobile device relative to the reference coordinate system;
obtain first indications of vector components of a field at a location of the mobile device, the vector components of the field defining the field; and
send the first indications of vector components of the field in association with the transformation to a server; or
determine second indications of vector components of the field using the first indications of vector components of the field and the transformation, the second indications of vector components of the field being indicative of vector components of the field at the location of the mobile device in the reference coordinate system, and send, to the server, the second indications of vector components of the field; or
send, to the server, the first indications of vector components of the field, determine the second indications of vector components of the field using the first indications of vector components of the field and the transformation, and transmit, to the server, the second indications of vector components of the field.

11 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the first indications of vector components of the field include an indication of each of an x-component, a y-component, and a z-component of the field in the mobile-device coordinate system, and the second indications of vector components of the field include an indication of each of an x-component, a y-component, and a z-component of the field in the reference coordinate system.

12 . The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain the first indications of vector components of the field by receiving measurements of respective magnetic field components from one or more field sensors.

13 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the camera is configured to obtain the visible light communication signals by capturing black-and-white images with an exposure duration of less than 100 microseconds.

14 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the camera is configured to obtain the visible light communication signals by capturing images with a resolution of no more than 400,000 pixels.

15 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the location of the mobile device using the visible light communication signals.

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Jovicic Aleksandar
• KUDEKAR Shrinivas

Classifications

• G01S5/015

  between indoor and outdoor environments · CPC title

• G01S5/16

  using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves · CPC title

• G01S5/163

  Determination of attitude (using inertial means G01C9/00; control of attitude G05D1/49) · CPC title

• G01C21/206 Primary

  specially adapted for indoor navigation · CPC title

• G01C23/00

  Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration · CPC title