Modeling connectivity of transit systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9392415-B2
Application number	US-201414502982-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Jul 12, 2016
Grant date	Jul 12, 2016

Abstract

Methods, program products, and systems for using a location fingerprint database to determine a location of a mobile device are described. A mobile device can use location fingerprint data received from a server to determine a location of the mobile device at the venue. The mobile device can obtain, from a sensor of the mobile device, a vector of sensor readings, each sensor reading can measure an environment variable, e.g., a signal received by the sensor from a signal source. The mobile device can perform a statistical match between the vector and the location fingerprint data. The mobile device can then estimate a current location of the mobile device based on the statistical match.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
obtaining, by one or more computer processors, sensor readings that are taken by a sampling mobile device in a transit system that includes a route, stations on the route, and one or more platforms at each station, each sensor reading being associated with a timestamp and a tag indicating on which portion of the transit system the reading was taken;
determining, by the one or more computer processors and using the timestamps and tags of the sensor readings, an estimated motion state of the sampling mobile device at each of a plurality of time points when the sampling mobile device traveled in the transit system;
determining, by the one or more computer processors and using the motion states, that the sampling mobile device traveled from a first station having a first platform and a second platform to a second station having a third platform and a fourth platform through a directed route connecting the first platform of the first station and the third platform of the second station;
determining, using the motion states, a time-based probability distribution of location of a user device traveling from the first platform of the first station to the third platform of the second station along the route and a probability distribution of time the user device stays on the first platform or the third platform; and
providing the probability distributions to a user device for estimating a location of the user device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the transit system is a subway system where signals from a global positioning satellite system are unavailable or inaccurate for location determination, and
the sensor readings include readings from at least one of an accelerometer, a magnetometer, an air pressure sensor, a gyroscope, a light sensor, a sound pressure sensor, or a radio receiver coupled to the sampling mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the sensor readings include received signal strength indications (RSSIs) of radio frequency signals from one or more RF signal sources, each signal source is a cell site of a cellular communications network, a wireless access point, or a Bluetooth™ low energy (BLE) beacon, and
each measurement is associated with an identifier of a corresponding signal source.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the sensor readings comprise a plurality of measurements taken at the first platform and the third platform, each measurement is associated with an identifier of a signal source, each tag including an identifier of the platform and an identifier of the station where the measurements are taken.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
each tag includes an indication whether a surveyor carrying the sampling mobile device is in a train and remains stationary relative to the train, whether the surveyor is walking on the train, whether the train is moving along a track, whether the train is accelerating or decelerating, and whether the train has stopped at a station.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the readings are inertial sensor readings indicating motion states of the sampling mobile device, and
determining the time-based probability distribution of the location of the user device comprises:
converting a sequence of measurements from a time dimension to a space dimension by associating the timestamps with the inertial sensor readings; and
determining the time-based probability distribution of the location of the user device over time since the user device leaves the first platform based on the converted sequence of measurements.

7. The method of claim 6 , comprising overlaying a representative of the location of the user device and a representation of the transit system on a map.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the sampling mobile device traveled from the first station to the second station comprises:
upon determining that a combination of first sensor readings indicates that the sampling mobile device went from above ground to underground at a geographic location of the first station, determining that the sampling mobile device entered the first platform of the first station using a combination of second sensor readings; and
upon determining that a combination of second sensor readings indicate that the sampling mobile device is located at the third platform of the second station, determining that the sampling mobile device went from underground to above ground at the second station using a combination of first sensor readings.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the readings are associated with an identifier of an operator of the transit system and at least one of a name of the station or geographic coordinates of the portion of the route, and
providing the probability distribution to a user device comprises:
receiving a request from the user device for location fingerprint data of the transit system, the request includes the identifier of the transit system; and
in response to the request, providing the probability distribution to the user device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computer processors are components of a mobile device or a server computer system.

11. A system comprising:
a one or more computer processors;
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions operable to cause the one or more computer processors to perform operations comprising:
obtaining, by one or more computer processors, sensor readings that are taken by a sampling mobile device in a transit system that includes a route, stations on the route, and one or more platforms at each station, each sensor reading being associated with a timestamp and a tag indicating on which portion of the transit system the reading was taken;
determining, by the one or more computer processors and using the timestamps and tags of the sensor readings, an estimated motion state of the sampling mobile device at each of a plurality of time points when the sampling mobile device traveled in the transit system;
determining, by the one or more computer processors and using the motion states, that the sampling mobile device traveled from a first station having a first platform and a second platform to a second station having a third platform and a fourth platform through a directed route connecting the first platform of the first station and the third platform of the second station;
determining, using the motion states, a time-based probability distribution of location of a user device traveling from the first platform of the first station to the third platform of the second station along the route and a probability distribution of time the user device stays on the first platform or the third platform; and
providing the probability distributions to a user device for estimating a location of the user device.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the transit system is a subway system where signals from a global positioning satellite system are unavailable or inaccurate for location determination, and
the sensor readings include readings from at least one of an accelerometer, a magnetometer, an air pressure sensor, a gyroscope, a light sensor, a sound pressure sensor, or a radio receiver coupled to the sampling mobile device.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the sensor readings include received signal strength indications (RSSIs) of radio frequency signals from one or more RF signal sources, each signal source is a cell site of a cellular communications network, a wireless access point, or a Bluetooth™ low energy (BLE) beacon, and
each measurement is associated with an identifier of a corresponding signal source.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Millman David Benjamin
• Bergerengen Johan Olav
• Mayor Robert
• Smith Brian Stephen

Classifications

• G06N7/01

  Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks · CPC title

• G01S5/02526

  using non-dedicated equipment, e.g. user equipment or crowd-sourcing · CPC title

• H04W4/026 Primary

  using orientation information, e.g. compass · CPC title

• H04W4/028

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W4/027

  using movement velocity, acceleration information · CPC title