Method for providing location information and apparatus therefor

Abstract

A server may include a communication circuit communicating with a user terminal, storage including a fingerprint DB storing fingerprints corresponding to a plurality of points and a signal fluctuation probability DB, and a processor electrically connected to the communication circuit and the storage. The processor may be configured to store similarity between first signal strength and second signal strength, which are determined based on a probability that a pair of the first signal strength and the second signal strength received from a first AP occurs with respect to fingerprints corresponding to a first point, in the signal fluctuation probability DB, to obtain a fingerprint including signal strength received from the first AP, from the user terminal, and to determine a location of the user terminal based on the obtained fingerprint and the signal fluctuation probability DB.

1 . A server comprising:
 a communication circuit configured to communicate with a user terminal;   a storage including a fingerprint database (DB) storing fingerprints corresponding to a plurality of points and a signal fluctuation probability DB; and   a processor electrically connected to the communication circuit and the storage,   wherein the processor is configured to:
 store similarity between first signal strength and second signal strength, which are determined based on a probability that a pair of the first signal strength and the second signal strength received from a first access point (AP) occurs with respect to fingerprints corresponding to a first point, in the signal fluctuation probability DB, 
 obtain a fingerprint including signal strength received from the first AP, from the user terminal, and 
 determine a location of the user terminal based on the obtained fingerprint and the signal fluctuation probability DB. 
   
     
     
         2 . The server of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the communication circuit to transmit the determined location to the user terminal. 
     
     
         3 . The server of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first AP is a Wi-Fi AP, and   wherein the signal strength corresponds to a received signal strength indication (RSSI).   
     
     
         4 . The server of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the similarity based on an appearance probability of the first signal strength, an appearance probability of the second signal strength, and a probability that a pair of the first signal strength and the second signal strength appears. 
     
     
         5 . The server of  claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the similarity based on a number of times that the pair of the first signal strength and the second signal strength occurs, compared with a number of signal strength pairs capable of being combined with respect to the first AP, with respect to the fingerprints corresponding to the first point. 
     
     
         6 . The server of  claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the similarity based on a value obtained by dividing a probability that the pair of the first signal strength and the second signal strength occurs by a value obtained by multiplying the appearance probability of the first signal strength and the appearance probability of the second signal strength. 
     
     
         7 . The server of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the storage further includes a non-reception signal DB, and   wherein the processor is further configured to store a non-reception penalty determined based on a probability that a pair of first signal strength received from the first AP and a non-reception signal occurs with respect to the fingerprints corresponding to the first point, in the non-reception signal DB.   
     
     
         8 . The server of  claim 7 , wherein the non-reception penalty is set to be higher as a value of the first signal strength is greater. 
     
     
         9 . The server of  claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the location of the user terminal based on the obtained fingerprint, the signal fluctuation probability DB, and the non-reception signal DB. 
     
     
         10 . A location measuring method of a server, the method comprising:
 obtaining a fingerprint including a first signal strength value of a first access point (AP), from a terminal;   obtaining a score of each of a plurality of locations based on a similarity between the first signal strength value and signal strength values of the first AP included in fingerprints corresponding to a plurality of locations; and   determining a location corresponding to the obtained fingerprint, based on the plurality of locations and the score of each of the plurality of locations.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 transmitting the determined location to the terminal.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 ,
 wherein the obtained fingerprint includes signal non-reception information of a second AP, and   wherein the obtaining of the score of each of the plurality of locations includes obtaining the score of each of the plurality of locations, based on a penalty of a signal strength value of the second AP included in the fingerprints corresponding to the plurality of locations.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the penalty is set to be higher as the signal strength value of the second AP included in the fingerprints corresponding to the plurality of locations is greater. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the determining of the location includes determining a location corresponding to the highest score among the plurality of locations, as the location of the terminal. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the determining of the location includes determining the location of the terminal, using at least two or more locations among the plurality of locations and scores corresponding to the at least two or more locations.