Crowdsourcing based on base station almanac quality

Abstract

Systems, apparatus and methods for a mobile device and a base station almanac server to throttle crowdsourcing information are presented. The crowdsourcing information may be used to improve a location of a base station in a base station almanac. A base station almanac is received from a base station almanac server. Crowdsourcing information for at least one base station is collected, including identifying an identifier for each base station and determining a position estimate of the mobile device for each base station. A crowdsourcing throttle is determined based on the base station almanac and the crowdsourcing information is sent to the base station almanac server based on the crowdsourcing throttle.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method in a mobile device for reporting crowdsourcing data, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac;   collecting crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, collecting comprising, for each base station of the at least one base station:
 identifying an identifier for each base station; 
 determining a position estimate of the mobile device for each base station; 
   determining a crowdsourcing throttle based on the base station almanac; and   sending, to the base station almanac server based on the crowdsourcing throttle, the crowdsourcing information.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the crowdsourcing throttle determines when the crowdsourcing information is to be sent. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the crowdsourcing throttle based on the base station almanac comprises determining the crowdsourcing information is to be sent when available, periodically, or when a block of memory in the mobile device is full. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the crowdsourcing throttle based on the base station almanac comprises determining the crowdsourcing information is to be sent based on information in the base station almanac. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle comprises a threshold for a discrepancy in information in the base station almanac, and wherein sending, to the base station almanac server based on the crowdsourcing throttle, the crowdsourcing information comprises determining that there is a discrepancy in the information in the base station almanac that is greater than the threshold and in response sending the crowdsourcing information. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the discrepancy in the information in the base station almanac is between a first position estimate for the mobile device derived using a set of information from the base station almanac and a second position estimate for the mobile device derived using a different set of information. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle identifies a base station for which the crowdsourcing information is to be sent. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the collecting the crowdsourcing information for the at least one base station is based on the crowdsourcing throttle. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the collecting further comprises:
 measuring ranging information between the at least one base station and the mobile device;   wherein the crowdsourcing information further comprises the ranging information.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 sending a request for the base station almanac with an identifier for a base station; and   receiving the base station almanac with the crowdsourcing throttle.   
     
     
         11 . A mobile device for throttling crowdsourcing data, the mobile device comprising:
 a transceiver configured to:
 receive, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac; 
 receive an identifier of a base station; 
 send crowdsourcing information to the base station almanac server; 
   a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to collect crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, wherein the processor is configured to collect crowdsourcing information for each base station of the at least one base station, by being configured to:
 identify an identifier for each base station; 
 determine a position estimate of the mobile device for each base station; 
   wherein the processor is further configured to determine a crowdsourcing throttle based on the base station almanac; and send, to the base station almanac server based on the crowdsourcing throttle, the crowdsourcing information with the transceiver.   
     
     
         12 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates when the crowdsourcing information is to be sent. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates that the mobile device is to send the crowdsourcing information when the crowdsourcing information is available, periodically, or when a block of memory in the mobile device is full. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates that when the mobile device sends the crowdsourcing information is based on information in the base station almanac. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle comprises a threshold for a discrepancy in information in the base station almanac, and wherein the processor is configured to send, to the base station almanac server based on the crowdsourcing throttle, the crowdsourcing information with the transceiver by being configured to determine that there is a discrepancy in the information in the base station almanac that is greater than the threshold and in response send the crowdsourcing information. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile device of  claim 15 , wherein the discrepancy in the information in the base station almanac is between a first position estimate for the mobile device derived using a set of information from the base station almanac and a second position estimate for the mobile device derived using a different set of information. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle identifies a base station for which the crowdsourcing information is to be sent. 
     
     
         18 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to collect crowdsourcing information for the at least one base station based on the crowdsourcing throttle. 
     
     
         19 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the collecting further comprises:
 measuring ranging information between the at least one base station and the mobile device;   wherein the crowdsourcing information further comprises the ranging information.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including program code stored thereon for a mobile device to report crowdsourcing data, comprising program code to:
 receive, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac;   collect crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, wherein the program code to collect crowdsourcing information comprises program code to, for each base station of the at least one base station:   identify an identifier for each base station;   determine a position estimate of the mobile device for each base station;   determine a crowdsourcing throttle based on the base station almanac; and   send, to the base station almanac server based on the crowdsourcing throttle, the crowdsourcing information.