Method for determining the location of a mobile device within a building, and apparatuses for performing same

This application is the U.S. national stage of International Application No. PCT/EP2014/054298, filed Mar. 6, 2014 and claims the benefit thereof. The International Application claims the benefits of German Application No. 102013205547.1 filed on Mar. 28, 2013, both applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Described below I a method for determining the location of a mobile device within a building, in which the mobile device receives position information from room devices.

Local beacons that are installed in rooms and that transmit an ID for a room, for example RFID tags, small Bluetooth or infrared transmitters, QR codes or the like are known. In all these cases, this requires a mobile device to have a reading or reception unit in order to identify these local beacons, however.

In addition, terminal-based radio positioning, e.g. by Wi-Fi, is known. For this, the mobile device has a map containing field strengths and positions of radio transmitters, e.g. Wi-Fi access points, and it then uses currently measured field strengths to compute a probable position. This method is highly computation intensive, however, and requires field strength maps that are as up to date as possible.

Likewise based on the same technology but more widespread is server-based radio positioning, also by Wi-Fi, for example. In this case, the positioning computation is performed by a server, however, which is problematic for the privacy of the user of the mobile device.

A further known method on mobile devices uses compasses, inertial sensors and gyroscopes in order to record the movement and orientation of the mobile device and to compute a position therefrom.

This method is usually too imprecise when taken on its own and is therefore often combined with other methods.

Described below is a method for determining the location of a mobile device, for example a Smartphone, in which as little additional effort as possible is involved in being able to determine the position of the mobile device or of the user thereof within a building in a manner that is precise in terms of the room and as secure as possible against eavesdropping, that is to say without the user position being able to be monitored extraneously.

The method for determining the location of a mobile device within a building uses an inertial motion sensor of a mobile device and an optical motion detector of a room device installed in a room to identify a movement in the room, in which the respective room device sends a radio message containing its own position and the respective mobile device receives this radio message and in so doing measures the signal strength thereof, and in which the mobile device identifies when the signal strength of the radio message just received is high and when the movement established by the motion detector and the movement established by the motion sensor have a temporal correlation, and concludes therefrom that the movement just reported in the at least one room is probably its own and that the mobile device is situated in the room or in proximity to the position of the room device.

The identity of the mobile device in question is protected, because no servers or the like are needed for positioning, to which the mobile device would need to disclose its identity, position or sensor information.

These and other aspects and advantages will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of an exemplary embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing of which:

the single drawing is a block diagram of two rooms, each containing a room device and a mobile device.

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

The arrangement illustrated in the drawing includes a room device RGX that is installed in a room X of a building and that has an optical motion detector BM and a radio transmitter FS, and also includes a mobile device MGX that belongs to a user U and that has an inertial motion sensor BS, a radio receiver FE and a computation unit CPU.

The drawing shows the user U with the associated mobile device likewise in the room X. In a further room Y of the building, a further installed room device RGY and a further mobile device MGY are shown by way of example.

The identity of the mobile device MGX is protected.

A mobile device that is not involved, for example the further mobile device MGY, and that listens in on the radio message FM, for example from the further room Y, cannot infer the identity of the mobile device MGX.

No further servers or the like are needed for positioning, to which the mobile device would need to disclose its identity, position or sensor information.

In addition, the drawing indicates the method at the relevant points of the apparatus in arrow form.

As indicated by arrow 1 , the mobile device is moved by the user U within the room X, whereupon the motion sensor BS of the mobile device MGX identifies a movement by the device MGX, as indicated by arrow 2 and the motion detector BM of the room device RGX identifies a movement in the room X, as indicated by arrow 3 .

The room device RGX then sends a radio message FM from radio transmitter FS, as indicated by arrow 4 , containing its own position, particularly the label of the room X (R=X), and containing an indication that a movement has been identified (B=1).

As indicated by arrow 5 , the mobile device MGX receives the radio message FM and in so doing measures the signal strength thereof.

The computation unit CPU of the mobile device MGX then uses a statistical method to identify, as indicated by arrow 6 , firstly that the signal strength of the radio signal just received is high and secondly that the movement established by the motion detector BM of the room device RGX and the movement established by the motion sensor BS of the mobile device MGX have a temporal correlation.

As indicated by arrow 7 , the computation unit CPU of the mobile device MGX then concludes that the movement just reported in room X is probably its own and that the mobile device MGX is in the room X and not in the adjacent room Y, for example.

The room device RGX may optionally be embodied as a Wi-Fi access point having an integrated motion detector, wherein the Wi-Fi access point sends the radio message FM as part of its normal access point radio beacons.

In addition, the room device RGX may optionally be embodied as a simple motion detector that communicates with another Wi-Fi access point by wire.

Optionally, the radio messages FM can be sent by the room device RGX whenever a movement has been identified or else can be sent periodically, for example approximately every 2 seconds, with, in the latter case, a time stamp for the largest movement or a time profile for the movements, for example over the last 2 seconds, advantageously being sent for the purpose of precise temporal correlation of the movements.

Optionally, the radio messages FM can also be sent in encrypted form, e.g. via a Wi-Fi network, such that they can be decrypted only by mobile devices having a radio key that is stipulated for the building. This prevents an attacker who is standing outside the building with a mobile device that does not belong to the building from listening in and being able to establish that a movement has taken place in the room X.

The method allows inexpensive room-precise location without adversely affecting the privacy of the user. The method can be implemented with mobile devices that are available today, e.g. a Smartphone with an inertial sensor and Wi-Fi. The room device can also be provided cheaply using sensors that are available today, e.g. in the form of a combination of a passive infrared motion detector and a Wi-Fi access point.

A description has been provided with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof and examples, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the claims which may include the phrase “at least one of A, B and C” as an alternative expression that means one or more of A, B and C may be used, contrary to the holding in Superguide v. DIRECTV, 358 F3d 870, 69 USPQ2d 1865 (Fed. Cir. 2004).