Because GPS does not work indoors, mobile electronics devices that use GPS for activities do not work inside a building. An embodiment of the present invention uses ultrasonic tone generators in each room. The ultrasonic tone generators can be built into cameras or separate devices. Each device may emit a unique tone that has a high enough frequency that most people cannot hear the frequency or combination of frequencies. Using a built-in microphone on a mobile device, the incoming audio may be analyzed in the frequency domain to determine the loudest tone above the human hearing threshold. This tone may be mapped to a specific room that can then be sent to the mobile electronics device to perform any location-aware actions.

A navigation device includes a pressure sensor, a radio, a memory including program instructions, and a controller operably connected to the pressure sensor, the radio, and the memory and configured to execute the program instructions to (i) receive at least one signal from a reference beacon of a plurality of beacons, (ii) determine a reference relationship curve correction based upon the received at least one signal, and (iii) determine an altitude of the navigation device based upon the reference relationship curve correction, and a signal from the pressure sensor.

A method is disclosed including determining at least one floor detection parameter based on a floor characteristic of a building; using the floor detection parameter in a floor detection process or providing the floor detection parameter for use in a floor detection process. Furthermore, a method is disclosed, including receiving at least one floor detection parameter determined based on a floor characteristic of a building, and using the at least one floor detection parameter in a floor detection process. According apparatuses, computer programs and systems are also disclosed.

A system, method, and computer program product are provided for maintaining service continuity associated with a mobile device during travel, by providing alternative navigational routes based on user defined inputs and preferences. In use, at least one input parameter is received from a mobile device associated with at least one communication network, the at least one input parameter corresponding to a navigational task to be performed utilizing the mobile device. Further, a starting point associated with the navigational task is identified. Additionally, an ending point associated with the navigational task is identified. Furthermore, at least one route is determined from the starting point to the ending point, based at least in part on a current service continuity associated with the mobile device, a historical service continuity associated with the mobile device, and the at least one input parameter.

An in-vehicle unit, which is used in each of host vehicles including a subject vehicle and nearby vehicles, includes an inter-vehicle communicator to perform inter-vehicle communication. The in-vehicle unit in the subject vehicle includes a criterion value setting section and a different-unit anomaly detection section. The criterion value setting section receives a different-unit installation state index via the inter-vehicle communicator and sets successively a criterion value of an installation state index from the received different-unit installation state index specified based on an output value from a sensor instrument that successively outputs an output value corresponding to an installation state of the in-vehicle unit on each nearby vehicle. The different-unit anomaly detection section detects an abnormal installation state of the in-vehicle unit on a target nearby vehicle by comparing the criterion value with the different-unit installation state index received from the target nearby vehicle.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include methods, systems, and vehicles for disabling a function of one or more mobile devices within a passenger cabin of a vehicle. A method of disabling a function of one or more mobile devices within a passenger cabin of a vehicle according to the present disclosure includes determining a number of occupants within the passenger cabin based on one or more occupant sensor output signals output by one or more occupant sensors. A disable message is sent to disable a function of the one or more mobile devices in the passenger cabin when the number of occupants present in the passenger cabin is determined to be one. A disable message is sent to disable a function of only the one or more mobile devices associated with a driver of the vehicle when the number of occupants present in the passenger cabin is determined to be greater than one.

A system for distributing targeted alerts to building occupants includes building equipment and a targeted alert system. The building equipment are configured to detect an event within a building and generate an alert identifying the event. The targeted alert system is configured to receive the alert from the building equipment, identify a location within the building of each of a plurality of building occupants, identify a role performed by each of the plurality of building occupants, select one or more of the building occupants to receive the alert based on at least one of the location of each building occupant and the role performed by each building occupant, and distribute the alert to the selected building occupants.

Systems and methods are disclosed for delivering programming content to vehicles (e.g., seagoing vessels) in a cost-effective manner. In some embodiments, programming content may be delivered to vehicles over previously deployed networks (e.g., satellite networks), using excess network capacity which may not otherwise be used to deliver data. By opportunistically employing excess network capacity (e.g., as the capacity becomes available), data constituting programming content may be delivered to vehicles over a period of time, such as via multicast transmission. A vehicle may store received data on one or more onboard servers. After an item of programming content has been received, the item may be made accessible to the vehicle's crew and/or passengers, such as by streaming the item to one or more suitably configured playback devices. Content may be served to playback devices “on demand” and/or according to a programming schedule.

A system and method configured to establish a communication connection between a vehicle and a remote computing device for data transmission. A beacon device is configured at a location to detect the presence of the vehicle, transmit an identity of the location to the vehicle, and communicate with the vehicle to determine an identity of the vehicle. The vehicle is configured to communicate with mobile devices of occupants of the vehicle. The remote computing device is connected to the beacon device via a data communication network and configured to determine, via the beacon device communicating with the vehicle, identification information of at least one mobile device of at least one occupant of the vehicle, and establish the communication connection between the computing device and the vehicle based at least in part on the identification information and the identity of the vehicle.

A vehicle maneuver detection application is proposed for driving assistant systems. The application can accurately and inexpensively detect and differentiate vehicle steering maneuvers by utilizing built-in sensors on smartphones or other portable computing device residing in a vehicle. By leveraging an effective bump detection algorithm and studying the nature of steering, the application is capable of differentiating various steering patterns, such as lane change, turn, and driving on curvy roads. Practicality of the application is demonstrates by two use cases: careless steering detection and fine-grained lane guidance. Thus, the application provides new functionalities without relying on cameras to provide a broader range of driving assistance.