Double sided round trip time calibration

• US 10,039,075 B2
• Filed: 02/02/2018
• Issued: 07/31/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Aldana, Carlos Horacio
• Primary Examiner(s): Rampuria, Sharad
• Application Number:
  US15/887,137
• Publication Number:
  US 20180160390A1
• Time in Patent Office: 179 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/765 with exchange of information between interrogator and responder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/40 Means for monitoring or calibrating
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Techniques for determining a Round Trip Time (RTT) calibration value are disclosed. An example of a method according to the disclosure includes receiving a fine timing measurement (FTM) exchange between an initiating station and a responding station, calculating a plurality of differential round trip time (RTT) measurements based on the FTM exchange, calculating a responding station calibration value based on the plurality of differential RTT measurements, and transmitting the responding station calibration value to the responding station.

Claims

1. A method of determining a round trip time calibration value with a mobile device, comprising:

receiving a plurality of fine timing measurement messages between an initiating station and a responding station including timestamp information indicating when the plurality of fine timing measurement messages are sent and received by the initiating station and the responding station;

determining time of arrival information for the plurality of fine timing measurement messages based on an internal clock in the mobile device;

calculating a plurality of differential time measurements based on a difference between the timestamp information and the time of arrival information for a respective fine timing measurement message in the plurality of fine timing measurement messages;

calculating a responding station calibration value based on the plurality of differential time measurements; and

transmitting the responding station calibration value to the responding station.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising calculating a median of the plurality of differential time measurements and calculating the responding station calibration value based on the median of the plurality of differential time measurements.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the responding station calibration value to the responding station comprises a wireless communication with the responding station.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein transmitting the responding station calibration value to the responding station comprises providing the responding station calibration value to a network server.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving an initiating station calibration value from the initiating station, wherein the initiating station calibration value is based at least in part on the timestamp information and the responding station calibration value.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising transmitting the initiating station calibration value to the responding station.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising providing the initiating station calibration value to a network server.

8. A method of providing calibrated timestamp values in a fine timing measurement exchange, comprising:

receiving a fine timing measurement request message from an initiating station;

transmitting a plurality of uncalibrated fine timing measurement messages to the initiating station, wherein the plurality of uncalibrated fine timing measurement messages include uncalibrated timestamp values;

receiving a responding station calibration value from a client station, wherein the responding station calibration value is based at least in part on a plurality of time of arrival values associated with the plurality of uncalibrated fine timing measurement messages as determined by the client station; and

transmitting a plurality of calibrated fine timing measurement messages to the initiating station, wherein the plurality of calibrated fine timing measurement messages include the calibrated timestamp values based on the responding station calibration value.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein receiving the responding station calibration value from the client station comprises receiving a wireless transmission from the client station.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein receiving the responding station calibration value from the client station comprises receiving the responding station calibration value from a network server.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein a distance to the initiating station is twice a distance to the client station.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising transmitting the responding station calibration value to the initiating station.

13. An apparatus for determining a round trip time calibration value, comprising:

a memory unit;

an internal clock;

a wireless transceiver;

a processing unit operably coupled to the memory unit, the internal clock and the wireless transceiver, and configured to;

receive a fine timing measurement exchange including timestamp information between an initiating station and a responding station;

determine time of arrival information for the fine timing measurement exchange with the internal clock;

calculate a plurality of differential time measurements based on the timestamp information and the time of arrival information;

calculate a responding station calibration value based on the plurality of differential time measurements; and

transmit the responding station calibration value to the responding station.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processing unit is further configured to calculate a median of the plurality of differential time measurements and calculate the responding station calibration value based on the median of the plurality of differential time measurements.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processing unit is configured to transmit the responding station calibration value to the responding station via a wireless communication with the responding station.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processing unit is configured to transmit the responding station calibration value to the responding station by providing the responding station calibration value to a network server.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the processing unit is further configured to receive an initiating station calibration value from the initiating station, wherein the initiating station calibration value is based at least in part on the timestamp information and the responding station calibration value.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the processing unit is further configured to transmit the initiating station calibration value to the responding station.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the processing unit is further configured to provide the initiating station calibration value to a network server.

20. An apparatus for providing calibrated timestamp values in a fine timing measurement exchange, comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver;

at least one processor operably coupled to the memory and the transceiver and configured to;

receive a fine timing measurement request message from an initiating station;

transmit a plurality of uncalibrated fine timing measurement messages to the initiating station, wherein the plurality of uncalibrated fine timing measurement messages include uncalibrated timestamp values;

receive a responding station calibration value from a client station, wherein the responding station calibration value is based at least in part on a plurality of time of arrival values associated with the plurality of uncalibrated fine timing measurement messages as determined by the client station; and

transmit a plurality of calibrated fine timing measurement messages to the initiating station, wherein the plurality of calibrated fine timing measurement messages include the calibrated timestamp values based on the responding station calibration value.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the responding station calibration value from the client station via a wireless transmission from the client station.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive the responding station calibration value from the client station comprises by receiving the responding station calibration value from a network server.

23. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein a distance to the initiating station is twice a distance to the client station.

24. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the responding station calibration value to the initiating station.