Deduplicating location fingerprint data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9304185-B2
Application number	US-201414292853-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 31, 2014
Priority date	May 31, 2014
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program product for deduplicating location fingerprint data for a venue are described. A system including a location server, or a mobile device, or both, can deduplicate the location fingerprint data. Deduplicating the location fingerprint data can include identifying correlated signal sources the signals of which are mutually dependent such that measurements of one signal source can be used to predict measurements of another. The system can determine a mutual information entropy value for each pair of signal sources, and identify the correlated signal sources based on high mutual information entropy value. The system can adjust weights of the correlated signal sources in location determination

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving survey data, the survey data comprising first measurements of signals from a first signal source and second measurements of signals from a second signal source;
determining a mutual information entropy value between the first measurements and the second measurements, the mutual information entropy value measuring a degree of mutual dependency between the first measurements and the second measurements;
storing the mutual information entropy value in an affinity matrix having a first dimension corresponding to the first signal source and the second signal source and a second dimension corresponding to the first signal source and the second signal source;
storing a respective control value for each of the first signal source and the second signal source in the affinity matrix, each control value measuring a degree of dependency of measurements obtained in a first survey of the respective signal source and measurements obtained in a second survey of the respective signal source, the first survey and second survey conducted at a same venue, the first survey and second survey conducted at different time or by different sampling devices; and
determining a respective weight of measurements of signals from the first signal source and measurements of signals from the second signal source, the weights being used in location determination at the venue using the signals from the first and second signal sources respectively, wherein determining each weight to a respective signal source comprises determining a ratio between a control value of the signal source and a sum of the control value of the signal source and the mutual information entropy value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the signals are radio frequency (RF) signals detectable at the venue by at least one of the sampling devices,
each signal source is a wireless access point, and
each measurement comprises a measurement of a received signal strength indication (RSSI), a measurement of round-trip time (RTT), or both.

3. The method of claim 2 , where determining the mutual information entropy value comprises determining a degree of linear correspondence between the first measurements and the second measurements, a higher degree of linear correspondence corresponds to a higher mutual information entropy value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each weight is applied to a measurement of a signal of a respective signal source as determined by a mobile device configured to determine a location, at the venue, of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising determining a respective weight of the first signal source and the second signal source against a third signal source based on a respective mutual information entropy value of the respective signal source and the third signal source and based on a control value of the third signal source.

6. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a storage device storing computer instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving survey data, the survey data comprising first measurements of signals from a first signal source and second measurements of signals from a second signal source;
determining a mutual information entropy value between the first measurements and the second measurements, the mutual information entropy value measuring a degree of mutual dependency between the first measurements and the second measurements;
storing the mutual information entropy value in an affinity matrix having a first dimension corresponding to the first signal source and the second signal source and a second dimension corresponding to the first signal source and the second signal source;
storing a respective control value for each of the first signal source and the second signal source in the affinity matrix, each control value measuring a degree of dependency of measurements obtained in a first survey of the respective signal source and measurements obtained in a second survey of the respective signal source, the first survey and second survey conducted at a same venue, the first survey and second survey conducted at different time or by different sampling devices; and
determining a respective weight of measurements of signals from the first signal source and measurements of signals from the second signal source, the weights being used in location determination at the venue using the signals from the first and second signal sources respectively, wherein determining each weight to a respective signal source comprises determining a ratio between a control value of the signal source and a sum of the control value of the signal source and the mutual information entropy value.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein each weight is applied to a measurement of a signal of a respective signal source as determined by a mobile device configured to determine a location, at the venue, of the mobile device.

8. A non-transitory storage device storing computer instructions operable to cause one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving survey data, the survey data comprising first measurements of signals from a first signal source and second measurements of signals from a second signal source;
determining a mutual information entropy value between the first measurements and the second measurements, the mutual information entropy value measuring a degree of mutual dependency between the first measurements and the second measurements;
storing the mutual information entropy value in an affinity matrix having a first dimension corresponding to the first signal source and the second signal source and a second dimension corresponding to the first signal source and the second signal source;
storing a respective control value for each of the first signal source and the second signal source in the affinity matrix, each control value measuring a degree of dependency of measurements obtained in a first survey of the respective signal source and measurements obtained in a second survey of the respective signal source, the first survey and second survey conducted at a same venue, the first survey and second survey conducted at different time or by different sampling devices; and
determining a respective weight of measurements of signals from the first signal source and measurements of signals from the second signal source, the weights being used in location determination at the venue using the signals from the first and second signal sources respectively, wherein determining each weight to a respective signal source comprises determining a ratio between a control value of the signal source and a sum of the control value of the signal source and the mutual information entropy value.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Patel Abhinav R
• Tay Darin
• Millman David Benjamin
• Tsoong Jessica Noel
• Huang Joseph Ding-Jiu
• Mayor Robert
• Lovich Vitali

Classifications

• H04W4/02 Primary

  Services making use of location information · CPC title

• G01S5/02521 Primary

  using a radio-map · CPC title

• G01S5/0289 Primary

  of multiple transceivers, e.g. in ad hoc networks · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title