Method of estimating location of mobile device in transportation using WiFi

1. A method for estimating a location of a mobile device located in means of transportation, the method comprising:

developing a first database by linking identification (ID) information of the means of transportation with ID information of an access point (AP) installed in the means of transportation, the AP being a mobile AP which allows access to a wireless wide area network (WAN) through WiFi;

developing a second database by linking ID information of the means of transportation with service information of the means of transportation, the service information including route information and timetable information;

developing a third database by linking ID information of a stop station of the means of transportation with ID information of an AP installed at the stop station, the AP being a stationary AP which allows access to a wired/wireless network through WiFi;

acquiring WiFi reception information generated by the mobile device equipped with a WiFi module, the WiFi reception information including ID information of an AP transmitting a WiFi signal;

extracting the ID information of the means of transportation in which the mobile device is located using the acquired WiFi reception information and the first database;

extracting the ID information of the stop station of the means of transportation in which the mobile device is located using the acquired WiFi reception information and the third database; and

estimating a location of the mobile device using the extracted ID information of the means of transportation, the extracted ID information of the stop station, and the second database.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimating of the location of the mobile device comprises:

extracting the route information and the timetable information of the means of transportation associated with the extracted ID information of the means of transportation from the second database;

correcting the extracted timetable information using the extracted ID information of the stop station and time information; and

estimating the location of the mobile device by associating time information with the extracted route information and the corrected timetable information.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining ID information of other APs included in the acquired WiFi reception information than the ID information of the AP associated with the extracted ID information of the stop station and the ID information of the AP associated with the extracted ID information of the means of transportation as being ID information of APs newly installed at the stop station and adding the ID information of the other APs to the third database.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the extracting of the ID information of the means of transportation comprises:

checking ID information of an AP included in the acquired WiFi reception information; and

extracting ID information of means of transportation associated with the checked ID information of the AP from the first database.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the WiFi reception information further comprises received signal strength of the WiFi signal transmitted from the AP, and

wherein the extracting of the ID information of the means of transportation comprises:

checking ID information of an AP having a greatest one of received signal strengths included in the acquired WiFi reception information; and

extracting ID information of means of transportation associated with the checked ID information of the AP from the first database.

6. A method of estimating a location of a mobile device using a WiFi signal, the method comprising:

preparing a stop-station fingerprint database by linking a WiFi fingerprint at each stop station on a route of means of transportation (hereinafter referred to as ‘stop-station WiFi fingerprint’) with identification (ID) information of each corresponding stop station, the WiFi fingerprint including at least one pair of ID information and received signal strength of access point (AP) included in a received WiFi signal; and

recognizing a stop station by comparing a WiFi fingerprint acquired by a mobile device located in the means of transportation (hereinafter referred to as ‘acquired WiFi fingerprint’) with the stop-station WiFi fingerprint in the stop-station fingerprint database.

7. A method of estimating a location of a mobile device using a WiFi signal in a location-based service system, the method comprising:

preparing a transportation service database including route information of means of transportation, the route information including information on each stop station on the route;

preparing a stop-station fingerprint database by linking a WiFi fingerprint at each stop station on the route (hereinafter referred to as ‘stop-station WiFi fingerprint’) with identification (ID) information of each corresponding stop station, the WiFi fingerprint including at least one pair of ID information and received signal strength of access point (AP) included in a received WiFi signal;

sequentially recognizing two or more stop stations which the means of transportation in motion approaches by repeatedly comparing a WiFi fingerprint acquired by a mobile device located in the means of transportation (hereinafter referred to as ‘acquired WiFi fingerprint’) with the stop-station WiFi fingerprint in the stop-station fingerprint database; and

estimating a location of the means of transportation in motion based on the two or more stop stations and the route information in the transportation service database and recognizing the estimated location of the means of transportation as a location of the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the transportation service database further comprises timetable information of the means of transportation, and

the method further comprising:

correcting the timetable information based on the estimated location of the means of transportation in motion;

estimating a location of the means of transportation in motion based on the corrected timetable information; and

recognizing the estimated location of the means of transportation as a location of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the recognized location of the mobile device is used to announce through the mobile device when the means of transportation approaches a stop station which is input by a user of the mobile device beforehand.

10. A method of estimating a location of a mobile device using a WiFi signal in a location-based service system, the method comprising:

preparing a stop-station fingerprint database by linking a WiFi fingerprint at each stop station on a route of means of transportation (hereinafter referred to as ‘stop-station WiFi fingerprint’) with identification (ID) information of each corresponding stop station, the WiFi fingerprint including at least one pair of ID information and received signal strength of access point (AP) included in a received WiFi signal;

receiving a WiFi fingerprint acquired by a mobile device located in the means of transportation (hereinafter referred to as ‘acquired WiFi fingerprint’);

recognizing a stop station by comparing the acquired WiFi fingerprint with the stop-station WiFi fingerprint in the stop-station fingerprint database;

providing a location-based application service based on the recognized stop station; and

updating the stop-station fingerprint database using the acquired WiFi fingerprint.