System and method for information enhancement in a mobile environment
This disclosure pertains to systems and methods that may be used to increase the information content of a mobile device so as to locate, track, or determine the behavior of a mobile device and/or the user of the mobile device. Separate pieces of information (information snippets) may be aggregated over time to form information linkages. The snippets and linkages may be associated with a time stamp and/or a time frame. The snippets and linkages may be associated with a probability value which may be updated as more information is acquired. The snippets and linkages may be aggregated with, for example a building floor plan to provide more complete informational description of the mobile device and/or the behavior of the user of the mobile device (information map).
1. A method of locating a mobile device, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a plurality of information snippets from one or more sensors associated with a mobile device;
(b) determining an information linkage from ones of the plural snippets, wherein the information linkage includes a series of the plurality of snippets over time to form a geometric object;
(c) determining an information map for the mobile device using the linkage and a predetermined map, wherein the linkage is fit into a topological framework of the predetermined map, wherein the information map includes a number of line segments and associated information; and
(d) locating the mobile device based on the information map.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more sensors are selected from the group consisting of: accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope, barometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, environmental sensor, biological sensor, camera, microphone, electromagnetic sensor, electromagnetic signal measuring device, electromagnetic signal analysis device, communication device, application program, user-input device, and combinations thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the plurality of snippets includes information received from the group of information providers consisting of: second mobile device, application program, wireless electronic beacon signal, visual code, QR code, MEMs device, and combinations thereof.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the plurality of snippets includes information selected from the group consisting of: time stamp, time interval, probability value, pattern matching algorithm, event descriptor, information input to the mobile device from a user of the mobile device, information from a second mobile device, a predetermined set of information for the user of the mobile device, and combinations thereof.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined map contains information selected from the group consisting of: environmental model, floor plan, building plan, location of a fixed electromagnetic, visual, or audio beacon, and combinations thereof.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the determination of the information map includes determining one or more arrangements of the linkage within the predetermined map and assigning a probability value to each of the arrangements.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the mobile device is located as a function of the assigned probability value of one of the arrangements.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the plurality of snippets is a time-bounded informational unit.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the plurality of snippets is a time-stamped informational unit.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein a first one of the plurality of snippets is associated with a start time, and end time, and a behavioral information unit.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein at least one of the start time and the end time has associated therewith a first snippet probability value.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the first snippet is converted into a first sub-snippet and a second sub-snippet.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein a start time of the first sub-snippet is earlier in time than a start time of the second sub-snippet and wherein the start time of the second sub-snippet is earlier in time than an end time of the first sub-snippet.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the first sub-snippet has associated therewith a first sub-snippet probability value and the second sub-snippet has associated therewith a second sub-snippet probability value.
15. The method of claim 12 wherein the first snippet includes a first behavioral information unit of the user and a second behavioral information unity of the user and wherein the first sub-snippet does not contain the second behavioral information unit.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the linkage includes two of the plural snippets and a string which represents a time span between an end time of one of the two snippets and a beginning time of the other of the two snippets.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the linkage has associated therewith a probability value.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the linkage includes a first snippet for which a first distance measurement determined and a second snippet for which a second distance measurement is determined, wherein the first and second distance measurements are determined using input from the one or more sensors.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the first snippet includes a first behavioral information unit of the user and the second snippet includes a second behavioral information unit of the user.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first and second behavioral information units are not the same.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the linkage includes a first one of the plural snippets having a start time and an end time and a second one of the plural snippets having a time stamp.
22. A method of locating a mobile device, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a first plurality of information snippets from one or more sensors associated with a mobile device wherein each of the first plurality of snippets has associated therewith a probability value, and wherein first ones of the first plural snippets have a respective start time and end time, and wherein the start times of the first ones of the first plural snippets are at or after T 1 , and wherein the ends times of the first ones of the first plural snippets are at or before time T 2 ;
(b) determining an information linkage from second ones of the first plurality of snippets wherein the linkage has associated therewith a linkage probability value;
(c) determining an information map from the information linkage and a predetermined map, wherein the information map includes a first path having an initial first path probability value and a second path having an initial second path probability value, and wherein each of the first and second paths includes the information linkage;
(d) determining a second information snippet from the one or more sensors, wherein the second information snippet has a start time T 3 where T 1 ≤T 3 ≤T 2 ;
(e) correlating the first and second paths with the second snippet and adjusting the initial first and second path probability values based on the correlation;
(f) updating the information map by removing the first or second path having a lower adjusted path probability value; and
(g) determining, based on the updated information, a location of the mobile device, wherein the mobile device is located for a time T 4 where T 1 ≤T 4 ≤T 2 .
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the first ones of the plural snippets are the same as the second ones of the plural snippets.
24. The method of claim 22 wherein the first and second initial path probability values are different.
25. The method of claim 22 wherein the second information snippet is selected from the group consisting of: information transmitted by a fixed beacon device, information transmitted by a mobile beacon device, information transmitted by the first mobile device, information from a visual code; information from a QR code, and combination thereof.
26. A method of locating a mobile device, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a first plurality of information snippets from one or more sensors associated with a first mobile device;
(b) determining a first information linkage from ones of the first plural snippets;
(c) determining a second plurality of information snippets from one or more sensors associated with a second mobile device;
(d) determining a second information linkage from ones of the second plural snippets;
(e) determining an information map from the first linkage, the second linkage, and a predetermined map, wherein the information map includes:
i. a first path having a first path probability value and a second path having a second path probability value, wherein each of the first and second paths includes the first linkage; and
ii. a third path having a third path probability value and a fourth path having a fourth path probability value, wherein each of the third and fourth paths includes the second linkage;
(f) providing synchronizing information to the first and second mobile devices;
(g) correlating the first, second, third, and fourth paths with the synchronizing information and adjusting the first, second, third, and fourth path probability values based on the correlation;
(h) updating the information map by removing the first or second path having a lower adjusted path probability value between them and by removing the third and fourth path having a lower adjusted path probability value between them; and
(i) locating the first mobile device based on the updated information map.
27. A method of locating a mobile device, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) determining a plurality of information snippets from one or more sensors associated with a mobile device;
(b) determining an information linkage from ones of the plural snippets;
(c) providing a predetermined map including a building plan and at least one location of a fixed electromagnetic, visual, or audio beacon device, wherein the predetermined map includes navigable space, and wherein:
i. a first portion of the navigable space is partitioned into rectangular space;
ii. a second portion of the navigable space is partitioned into a free-form shape; and
iii. the beacon device is assigned an attribute;
(d) determining an information map from the information linkage and the predetermined map, wherein the information map includes a first path having a first path probability value and a second path having a second path probability value, wherein each of the first and second paths includes the information linkage, and wherein the information map includes the attribute;
(e) locating the mobile device based on the information map.
28. The method of claim 27 wherein the building plan is a floor plan or environmental model.
29. The method of claim 27 wherein the mobile device is located as a function of the first path probability value.
30. The method of claim 27 wherein the mobile device is located as a function of the attribute.
31. The method of claim 27 wherein the mobile device is located using a technique selected from the group consisting of: a jigsaw puzzle-solving algorithm; a topology technique, a graph theory technique, and combinations thereof.
32. The method of claim 31 wherein the attribute is selected from the group consisting of: color, picture, visual pattern, and combinations thereof.
33. The method of claim 31 wherein a third portion of the navigable space may contain more than one path.