Method and System for Providing Enhanced Location Based Trilateration

Abstract

Method, systems and devices for determining for performing enhanced location based trilateration include receiving location information (e.g., waypoints) from one or more external devices, determining the validity of the received location information, performing normalization operations to normalize the received location information, assigning an overall ranking and a device-specific ranking to the location information, and storing the validated and normalized location information in memory. The enhanced location based trilateration may also include selecting four locations (e.g., waypoints) from the memory based on a combination of the overall ranking and the device-specific ranking, and generating a final location value or waypoint based on a result of applying the four selected waypoints to a kalman filter. The output of the kalman filter may also be reported and/or used as the device's current location.

1 - 21 . (canceled) 
     
     
         22 . A method of determining a location of a mobile device via enhanced location based trilateration, the method comprising:
 receiving, via a processor of the mobile device, location information;   obtaining dead reckoning (DR) position information;   receiving, via a processor of the mobile device, location based service (LBS) information;   performing trilateration based on the received location information, the obtained DR position information, and the received LBS information;   storing an updated final position set in memory; and   using the updated final position set to provide an enhanced location.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein receiving location information comprises receiving location information broadcasted by a passive external device. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein receiving location information comprises receiving global positioning system (GPS) data from a GPS receiver of the mobile device. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein obtaining DR position information comprises:
 receiving sensor data from one or more sensors of the mobile device;   determining a distance traveled by the mobile device since last obtaining DR position information;   determining a current location of the mobile device based on the determined distance traveled by the mobile device; and   generating updated DR position information identifying a current location of the mobile device.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the one or more sensors include one or more of:
 an accelerometer;   a gyro;   a magnetic compass;   an altimeter; and   an odometer.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein receiving LBS information comprises receiving LBS information from a server computing device. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein receiving LBS information comprises receiving LBS information from one or more other devices within a communication group. 
     
     
         29 . A mobile device, comprising:
 a processor configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations comprising:
 receiving location information; 
 obtaining dead reckoning (DR) position information; 
 receiving location based service (LBS) information; 
 performing trilateration based on the received location information, the obtained DR position information, and the received LBS information; 
 storing an updated final position set in memory; and 
 using the updated final position set to provide an enhanced location. 
   
     
     
         30 . The mobile device of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that receiving location information comprises receiving location information broadcasted by a passive external device. 
     
     
         31 . The mobile device of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that receiving location information comprises receiving global positioning system (GPS) data from a GPS receiver of the mobile device. 
     
     
         32 . The mobile device of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that obtaining DR position information comprises:
 receiving sensor data from one or more sensors of the mobile device;   determining a distance traveled by the mobile device since last obtaining DR position information;   determining a current location of the mobile device based on the determined distance traveled by the mobile device; and   generating updated DR position information identifying a current location of the mobile device.   
     
     
         33 . The mobile device of  claim 30 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that the one or more sensors include one or more of:
 an accelerometer;   a gyro;   a magnetic compass;   an altimeter; and   an odometer.   
     
     
         34 . The mobile device of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that receiving LBS information comprises receiving LBS information from a server computing device. 
     
     
         35 . The mobile device of  claim 29 , wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform operations such that receiving LBS information comprises receiving LBS information from one or more other devices within a communication group. 
     
     
         36 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor in a mobile device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving location information;   obtaining dead reckoning (DR) position information;   receiving location based service (LBS) information;   performing trilateration based on the received location information, the obtained DR position information, and the received LBS information;   storing an updated final position set in memory; and   using the updated final position set to provide an enhanced location.   
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that receiving location information comprises receiving location information broadcasted by a passive external device. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that receiving location information comprises receiving global positioning system (GPS) data from a GPS receiver of the mobile device. 
     
     
         39 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that obtaining DR position information comprises:
 receiving sensor data from one or more sensors of the mobile device;   determining a distance traveled by the mobile device since last obtaining DR position information;   determining a current location of the mobile device based on the determined distance traveled by the mobile device; and   generating updated DR position information identifying a current location of the mobile device.   
     
     
         40 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 39 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that the one or more sensors include one or more of:
 an accelerometer;   a gyro;   a magnetic compass;   an altimeter; and   
       an odometer. 
     
     
         41 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that receiving LBS information comprises receiving LBS information from a server computing device. 
     
     
         42 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 36 , wherein the stored processor-executable software instructions are configured to cause a processor to perform operations such that receiving LBS information comprises receiving LBS information from one or more other devices within a communication group.