IP Library Granted Patent US 9,880,002
Granted Patent B2
US 9,880,002 · App. 15/158,131 · Granted Jan 30, 2018

Facilitating location determination employing vehicle motion data

Inventor: Ginger Chien (Bellevue, WA)
Assignee: AT&T MOBILITY II LLC
G01C21/16G01C21/26G01C21/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,880,002
App. No.
15/158,131
Granted
Jan 30, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

Location determination is facilitated based on motion data accumulated at a vehicle in cases in which a beacon is not available. One method includes receiving, by a first device, first information about a vehicle indicative of a position and a direction of the vehicle. The position is measured by the vehicle based on a measured angular rotation rate and radius of a wheel of the vehicle and the direction of the vehicle is measured by the vehicle based on a measured amount of a turn radius of a steering wheel device of the vehicle. The method also includes determining a previously determined location of the vehicle. The method also includes generating second information about a location of the first device based on the previously determined location of the vehicle and the first information. Error estimates for the location and/or tuning bias for sensors at the vehicle can also be determined.

Claims (45)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a first device comprising a processor, first information associated with a vehicle indicative of a position and a direction of the vehicle, wherein the position is determined by the vehicle based on a measured angular rotation rate and a radius of a wheel of the vehicle;

determining, by the first device, a previously determined location of the vehicle; and

generating, by the first device, second information about a location of the first device based on the previously determined location of the vehicle and the first information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first device, that the first device is positioned along a constrained path; and

determining, by the first device, estimation error information about the second information based on the determining that the first device is positioned on the constrained path.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first information is associated with sensor adjustments based on measured tuning biases of respective sensors of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining, by the first device, that the first device is in a tunnel region.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the determining that the first device is on the constrained path is based on determining that the first device is in the tunnel region.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

rejecting, by the first device, a first portion of the first information about the direction of the first device based on determining that the first device is in the tunnel region.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, by the first device, whether beacon-based location information is available, wherein the determining the previously determined location is based on a determination that the beacon-based location information is not available.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the first device, third information about the vehicle indicative of the direction of the vehicle, wherein the direction is a bias factor associated with a tilt of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the generating the second information about the of the first device is further based on the third information.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

obtaining a previously determined location of a device;

generating first information about a location of the apparatus based on the previously determined location of the device and second information about a device indicative of a position and direction of the device; and

determining tuning bias information associated with modifying a sensor of the device based on comparing the first information with location information for the device, wherein the sensor generates the sensed data.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the apparatus is positioned on a constrained path; and

determining estimation error information about the first information based on a result of the determining whether the apparatus is positioned on the constrained path.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the second information is adjustable based on a measured tuning bias of the sensor of the device.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the apparatus is in a tunnel region.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the apparatus is on the constrained path based on the determining that the apparatus is in the tunnel region.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether beacon-based location information is available, and wherein the determining the previously determined location is based on a determination that the beacon-based location information is not available.

16. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving first information associated with a first device indicative of a position and a direction of the first device, wherein the direction of the first device is determined based on a measured amount of a turn radius of a steering wheel device of the first device;

identifying previously determined position information and previously determined direction information for the first device; and

generating second information about the first device based on the previously determined position information, the previously determined direction information and the first information.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining estimation error information about the second information based on whether the first device is determined to be positioned on a constrained path.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:

computing actual location information for the first device based on beacon-based location information.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining tuning bias information for tuning a sensor of the first device based on comparing the second information with the actual location information.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the determining comprises comparing the second information with the actual location information.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 13, 2023
From: AT&T MOBILITY II LLC
To: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY; KIA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 062372/0042 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 18, 2016
From: CHIEN, GINGER
To: AT&T MOBILITY II LLC
Reel/Frame 038746/0954 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 14522063 · Oct 23, 2014
Related Publication 20160258755A1 · Sep 8, 2016