Location estimation by observing wireless signals

摘要

A method and apparatus for estimating the position of an electronic device. The method comprises receiving an observation comprising the identity of at least one wireless transmitter detected by the device at the position to be estimate, comparing the observation with the contents of a set of record, detecting respective first and second matches between the observation and records, and retrieving the corresponding positions. The method comprises estimating the position of the electronic device based on at least one of the first position estimate and the second position estimate, depending upon quality characteristics of the first match and the second match and indications of the sources of the respective records.

主权项

1. A method of estimating the position of an electronic device, comprising:
receiving an observation including the identity of at least one wireless transmitter detected by the device at the position to be estimated; comparing the observation with a plurality of records, each record comprising the identity of one or more wireless transmitters and a corresponding position, the position being based on a location or set of locations at which the one or more transmitters were detected, each record originating from a source other than the wireless transmitter which may be determined from the record; detecting a first match between the observation and a first record, the first record comprising a corresponding first position; determining a first indication of the source of the first record; detecting a second match between the observation and a second record, the second record comprising a corresponding second position; determining a second indication of the source of the second record, wherein the second indication is different from the first indication; and estimating the position of the electronic device based on at least one of the first and second positions, depending upon the first indication and the second indication: wherein the first and second indications suggest that the first record originates from a source that is more closely related to the electronic device that the source of the second record, wherein: if the second match is more specific than the first match, then the estimation of the position of the electronic device is based preferentially on the second position; otherwise the estimation is based preferentially on the first position.