Systems and methods for vehicular positioning based on wireless fingerprinting data in a network of moving things including, for example, autonomous vehicles

1. A method of vehicular positioning of nodes of a radio frequency (RF) wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes disposed at respective fixed locations and a plurality of mobile nodes that reside in respective vehicles that move within a service area of the wireless network, and wherein each node of the plurality of nodes comprises one or more communication interfaces configured for scanning an RF wireless environment of the respective node, the method comprising:

periodically receiving respective wireless fingerprint sample data generated by each mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes, the wireless fingerprint sample data comprising data elements characterizing RF signals received by the mobile node from RF signal sources during scanning of the RF wireless environment of the mobile node and a corresponding geographic location within the service area at which the RF signals were received;

forming a collection of the wireless fingerprint sample data received from the plurality of mobile nodes;

receiving a request for an estimated geographic location of a particular mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes;

searching the collection using a wireless snapshot comprising data elements characterizing RF signals received in a current RF wireless environment of the particular mobile node, to identify wireless fingerprint samples of the collection that match the data elements of the wireless snapshot; and

calculating an estimated location of the particular mobile node using the identified wireless fingerprint sample data.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes comprises a wireless access point configured to provide wireless Internet access to end-user devices.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each node of the plurality of nodes periodically wirelessly broadcasts its current geographic location to other nodes of the network.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the scanning of RF signals within the service area of the wireless network is without regard to a route of travel of a vehicle in which the mobile node resides.

5. The method according to claim 1 , the method further comprising:

adding the wireless snapshot and a respective estimated location of the particular mobile node to the collection as a wireless fingerprint sample, if the search fails to identify at least one wireless fingerprint sample that matches the wireless snapshot.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the collection is indexed according to one or more of the data elements of each wireless fingerprint sample that characterize a signal source.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more communication interfaces are configured to scan and characterize RF signal sources comprising an RF signal of an IEEE 802.11p compliant vehicle to vehicle wireless communication standard and an RF signal compliant with a commercial cellular communication standard.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which is stored instructions executable by one or more processors, the executable instructions causing the one or more processors to perform a method of vehicular positioning of nodes of a radio frequency (RF) wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes disposed at respective fixed locations and a plurality of mobile nodes that reside in respective vehicles that move within a service area of the wireless network, and wherein each node of the plurality of nodes comprises one or more communication interfaces configured for scanning an RF wireless environment of the respective node, the method comprising:

periodically receiving respective wireless fingerprint sample data generated by each mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes, the wireless fingerprint sample data comprising data elements characterizing RF signals received by the mobile node from RF signal sources during scanning of the RF wireless environment of the mobile node and a corresponding geographic location within the service area at which the RF signals were received;

forming a collection of the wireless fingerprint sample data received from the plurality of mobile nodes;

receiving a request for an estimated geographic location of a particular mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes;

searching the collection using a wireless snapshot comprising data elements characterizing RF signals received in a current RF wireless environment of the particular mobile node, to identify wireless fingerprint samples of the collection that match the data elements of the wireless snapshot; and

calculating an estimated location of the particular mobile node using the identified wireless fingerprint sample data.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein each mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes comprises a wireless access point configured to provide wireless Internet access to end-user devices.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein each node of the plurality of nodes periodically wirelessly broadcasts its current geographic location to other nodes of the network.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein the scanning of RF signals within the service area of the wireless network is without regard to a route of travel of a vehicle in which the mobile node resides.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , the method further comprising:

adding the wireless snapshot and a respective estimated location of the particular mobile node to the collection as a wireless fingerprint sample, if the search fails to identify at least one wireless fingerprint sample that matches the wireless snapshot.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein the collection is indexed according to one or more of the data elements of each wireless fingerprint sample that characterize a signal source.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein the one or more communication interfaces are configured to scan and characterize RF signal sources comprising an RF signal of an IEEE 802.11p compliant vehicle to vehicle wireless communication standard and an RF signal compliant with a commercial cellular communication standard.

15. A system for vehicular positioning of nodes of a radio frequency (RF) wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes disposed at respective fixed locations and a plurality of mobile nodes that reside in respective vehicles that move within a service area of the wireless network, and wherein each node of the plurality of nodes comprises one or more communication interfaces configured for scanning an RF wireless environment of the respective node, the system comprising:

one or more processors operably coupled to storage and communicatively coupled to the plurality of nodes, the one or more processors operable to, at least:

periodically receive respective wireless fingerprint sample data generated by each mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes, the wireless fingerprint sample data comprising data elements characterizing RF signals received by the mobile node from RF signal sources during scanning of the RF wireless environment of the mobile node and a corresponding geographic location within the service area at which the RF signals were received;

form a collection of the wireless fingerprint sample data received from the plurality of mobile nodes;

receive a request for an estimated geographic location of a particular mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes;

search the collection using a wireless snapshot comprising data elements characterizing RF signals received in a current RF wireless environment of the particular mobile node, to identify wireless fingerprint samples of the collection that match the data elements of the wireless snapshot; and

calculate an estimated location of the particular mobile node using the identified wireless fingerprint sample data.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein each mobile node of the plurality of mobile nodes comprises a wireless access point configured to provide wireless Internet access to end-user devices.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein each node of the plurality of nodes periodically wirelessly broadcasts its current geographic location to other nodes of the network.

18. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the scanning of RF signals within the service area of the wireless network is without regard to a route of travel of a vehicle in which the mobile node resides.

19. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the one or more processors are further operable to:

add the wireless snapshot and a respective estimated location of the particular mobile node to the collection as a wireless fingerprint sample, if the search fails to identify at least one wireless fingerprint sample that matches the wireless snapshot.

20. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the collection is indexed according to one or more of the data elements of each wireless fingerprint sample that characterize a signal source.

21. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the one or more communication interfaces are configured to scan and characterize RF signal sources comprising an RF signal of an IEEE 802.11p compliant vehicle to vehicle wireless communication standard and an RF signal compliant with a commercial cellular communication standard.