Method and apparatus for determining the altitude of a mobile device
US8712713B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 16, 2007 |
| Grant date | Apr 29, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 14, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG16Z99/00
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus for combining pressure information from pressure sensors, motion information from dead reckoning or other motion sensors, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and geomagnetic sensors, and temperature information from temperature sensors, to separate a change in altitude from a change in environmental pressure or temperature. A change in measured pressure without any motion or change in temperature must be a weather-related barometric pressure change. If there is an associated temperature change, but no motion, and the rate of change is too fast for a normal weather change, the measured change represents a change in sensitivity of the pressure sensor with temperature, and the sensor calibration can be adjusted. A rapid change in pressure, associated with horizontal motion, but no measurable vertical motion represents a movement into a different pressure environment. Only changes in pressure that are associated with measurable vertical motion are true changes in altitude.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.