Geofences based on rf fingerprints

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016309294-A1
Application number	US-201615192490-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 24, 2016
Priority date	Jul 17, 2013
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems, apparatus and methods in a mobile device for determining a breach of a geofence is presented. A reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint is obtained by the mobile device, the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence. The reference RF fingerprint may be generated by the mobile device or received from a different mobile device. The mobile device scans for RF signals and determines a scanned RF fingerprint based on the scan for RF signals. A breach of the geofence is determined using the reference RF fingerprinting and the scanned RF fingerprint.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of determining a breach of a geofence in a mobile device comprising:
obtaining, at the mobile device, a reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint, the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence; scanning RF signals received by the mobile device; determining a scanned RF fingerprint based on the scanning; and determining if the breach of the geofence has occurred using the reference RF fingerprint and the scanned RF fingerprint.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining, at the mobile device, the reference RF fingerprint comprises one of generating the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence by the mobile device or receiving the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence by the mobile device directly or indirectly from a different mobile device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference RF fingerprint comprises a record of an RF environment at a location, and at least one of uncertainty, coarseness or granularity added to the RF environment defines an area inside the geofence.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein determining if the breach of the geofence has occurred comprises using the scanned RF fingerprint to determine if the mobile device has left the area inside the geofence or entered the area inside the geofence.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the geofence defined by the reference RF fingerprint comprises absolute information for a plurality of transmitters, wherein the absolute information comprises at least one of an NFC identifier (near-field communication identifier), a unique identity of the plurality of transmitters, or a location of the plurality of transmitters.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the geofence defined by the reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint comprises relative information that describes distance information from a plurality of transmitters using at least one of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or round-trip time (RTT).

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining, at the mobile device, a plurality of reference RF fingerprints, the plurality of reference RF fingerprints further defining the geofence.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of RF fingerprints defines at least one or a closed path and an open-loop path.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising waking an application in the mobile device based on the breach of the geofence occurring.

10 . A mobile device for determining a breach of a geofence, the mobile device comprising:
at least one of a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver; and a processor coupled to the at least one of the WWAN transceiver and the WLAN transceiver and configured to obtain a reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint, the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence, scan for RF signals with the at least one of the WWAN transceiver and the WLAN transceiver, determine a scanned RF fingerprint based on the scan for RF signals, and determine if the breach of the geofence has occurred using the reference RF fingerprint and the scanned RF fingerprint.

11 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to obtain the reference RF fingerprint by being configured to generate the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence or receive the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence with the at least one of the WWAN transceiver and the WLAN transceiver directly or indirectly from a different mobile device.

12 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the reference RF fingerprint comprises a record of an RF environment at a location, and at least one of uncertainty, coarseness or granularity added to the RF environment defines an area inside the geofence.

13 . The mobile device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to determine if the breach of the geofence has occurred by being configured to use the scanned RF fingerprint to determine if the mobile device has left the area inside the geofence or entered the area inside the geofence.

14 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the geofence defined by the reference RF fingerprint comprises absolute information for a plurality of transmitters, wherein the absolute information comprises at least one of an NFC identifier (near-field communication identifier), a unique identity of the plurality of transmitters, or a location of the plurality of transmitters.

15 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the geofence defined by the reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint comprises relative information that describes distance information from a plurality of transmitters using at least one of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or round-trip time (RTT).

16 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to obtain a plurality of reference RF fingerprints, the plurality of reference RF fingerprints further defining the geofence.

17 . The mobile device of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of RF fingerprints defines at least one or a closed path and an open-loop path.

18 . The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to wake an application based on the breach of the geofence occurring.

19 . A mobile device for determining a breach of a geofence, the mobile device comprising:
means for obtaining, at the mobile device, a reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint, the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence; means for scanning RF signals received by the mobile device; means for determining a scanned RF fingerprint based on the scanning; and means for determining if the breach of the geofence has occurred using the reference RF fingerprint and the scanned RF fingerprint.

20 . The mobile device of claim 19 , wherein the means for obtaining, at the mobile device, the reference RF fingerprint comprises one of a means for generating the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence or means for receiving the reference RF fingerprint defining the geofence directly or indirectly from a different mobile device.

21 . The mobile device of claim 19 , wherein the reference RF fingerprint comprises a record of an RF environment at a location, and at least one of uncertainty, coarseness or granularity added to the RF environment defines an area inside the geofence.

22 . The mobile device of claim 21 , wherein the means for determining if the breach of the geofence has occurred comprises means for using the scanned RF fingerprint to determine if the mobile device has left the area inside the geofence or entered the area inside the geofence.

23 . The mobile device of claim 19 , wherein the geofence defined by the reference RF fingerprint comprises absolute information for a plurality of transmitters, wherein the absolute information comprises at least one of an NFC identifier (near-field communication identifier), a unique identity of the plurality of transmitters, or a location of the plurality of transmitters.

24 . The mobile device of claim 19 , wherein the geofence defined by the reference radio frequency (RF) fingerprint comprises relative information that describes distance information from a plurality of transmitters using at least one of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or round-trip time (RTT).

25 . A non-transient computer-readable storage medium including program code stored thereon for a mo

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Li Xintian
• Ische Marc Anthony

Classifications

• H04W4/021 Primary

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04L43/0864

  Round trip delays · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W4/022

  with dynamic range variability · CPC title

• H04W24/10

  Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} · CPC title