User equipment local barometric calibration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9952354-B2
Application number	US-201514852042-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2015
Priority date	Sep 11, 2015
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

A system for providing local barometric calibration for user equipment is disclosed. In particular, the system may utilize an over-the-air signal to feed local barometric pressure measurements to the user equipment so as to auto-calibrate the barometric sensor of the user equipment to the local barometric pressure. The local barometric pressure may be collated to the serving cell site identifier or wireless access point to which the user equipment is connected. The local barometric pressure measurements may be obtained by the optimal resource available in the area associated with the user equipment. For example, the local barometric pressure measurements may be obtained from the Internet, a local weather service, a local serving beacon, or other source. The barometric sensor may be calibrated at desired intervals, when certain conditions are satisfied, or any combination thereof.

First claim

We claim:

1. A communication device, comprising:
a memory that stores instructions; and
a processor that executes the instructions to perform operations, the operations comprising:
identifying a cell site identifier associated with a cell site connected to the communication device;
determining, based on the cell site identifier and the cell site, a source for providing a barometric pressure measurement corresponding to a location of the communication device;
determining that the source is an optimal source for providing the barometric pressure measurement based on a proximity of the source to the communication device, based on a processing power of the source, and based on a signal strength associated with the source;
receiving, via a first over-the-air signal provided by the source, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device;
transmitting, to a barometric sensor of the communication device, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device; and
calibrating the barometric sensor based on the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device.

2. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise transmitting a request for the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device.

3. The communication device of claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving, in response to the request, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device, and wherein the operations further comprise calibrating the barometric sensor based on a selected time interval.

4. The communication device of claim 3 , wherein the operations further comprise adjusting, based on a user preference, the selected time interval for calibrating the barometric sensor.

5. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise determining a location of a user of the communication device after calibrating the barometric sensor based on the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device.

6. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise determining an altitude of the communication device after calibrating the barometric sensor.

7. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving the first over-the-air signal provided by the source, wherein the source comprises a barometric pressure beacon.

8. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving the first over-the-air signal provided by the source, wherein the source comprises a weather transmitter.

9. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise calibrating the barometric sensor when an application associated with the communication device is started.

10. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving a second over-the-air signal from the source for calibrating a component of the communication device other than the barometric sensor, wherein the second over-the-air signal is different from the first over-the-air signal.

11. The communication device of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise calibrating the component of the communication device based on the second over-the-air signal for calibrating the component.

12. A method executing within a communication device, comprising:
identifying, by utilizing instructions from a memory that are executed by a processor, a cell site identifier associated with a cell site connected to the communication device;
determining, based on the cell site identifier and the cell site, a source for providing a barometric pressure measurement corresponding to a location of the communication device;
determining that the source is an optimal source for providing the barometric pressure measurement based on a proximity of the source to the communication device, based on a processing power of the source, and based on a signal strength associated with the source;
receiving, via a first over-the-air signal provided by the source, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device;
transmitting, to a barometric sensor of the communication device, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device; and
calibrating the barometric sensor based on the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising transmitting a request for the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising receiving, in response to the request, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device, and further comprising calibrating the barometric sensor based on a selected time interval.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising determining altitude information for the communication device after calibrating the barometric sensor.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising mapping the altitude information to a location where the communication device is located within a building floor layout.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising tracking an object in proximity to the communication device based on the altitude information.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising recalibrating the barometric sensor when the location of the communication device changes.

19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising receiving a second over-the-air signal from the source for calibrating a component of the communication device other than the barometric sensor, and further comprising calibrating the component of the communication device based on the second over-the-air signal for calibrating the component, wherein the second over-the-air signal is different from the first over-the-air signal.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable device of a communication device comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor of the communication device, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
identifying a cell site identifier associated with a cell site connected to the communication device;
determining, based on the cell site identifier and the cell site, a source for providing a barometric pressure measurement corresponding to a location of the communication device;
determining that the source is an optimal source for providing the barometric pressure measurement based on a proximity of the source to the communication device, based on a processing power of the source, and based on a signal strength associated with the source;
receiving, via an over-the-air signal provided by the source, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device;
transmitting, to a barometric sensor of the communication device, the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device; and
calibrating the barometric sensor based on the barometric pressure measurement corresponding to the location of the communication device.

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp

Inventors

• Springer Kelly

Classifications

• G01L27/002

  Calibrating, i.e. establishing true relation between transducer output value and value to be measured, zeroing, linearising or span error determination · CPC title

• H04W48/16

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• G01W1/18 Primary

  Testing or calibrating meteorological apparatus · CPC title

• H04W4/023

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

• H04W8/245

  from a network towards a terminal · CPC title