Skyhook Wireless gets new patent for Wi-Fi positioning

Skyhook Wireless, a provider of Wi-Fi and hybrid positioning services today announced that the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) awarded it USPN 7,493,127: Continuous Data Optimization of New Access Points in Positioning Systems.

The new patent covers a technique for continuing to improve reference location data using automated feedback from user devices. This new patent joins an initial set of 9 patent awards encompassing various techniques invented by Skyhook Wireless for building and maintaining a Wi-Fi positioning system by collecting data through a variety of automated and user driven models.

“We are very excited about these awards which protect the work we have done pioneering the field of hybrid positioning using Wi-Fi,” said Chief Scientist Dr. Farshid Alizadeh-Shabdiz. “We continue to invest substantial research resources in the pursuit of perfect consumer location.”

USPTO also recently awarded a patent to Skyhook’s competitor Mexens Technology (Navizon): “System and Method for Enabling Continuous Geographic Location Estimation for Wireless Computing Devices” (US Patent No. 7397424). The patent consists of a system combining GPS and Wireless signals (Wi-Fi and/or cellular) to determine a position. When GPS signal is not available then the system uses Wi-Fi or cellular triangulation.