Low-energy consumption location of movable objects
First Claim
1. A location system for movable objects, the location system using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), the location system comprising:
- a mobile station configured to be associated with the movable object, the mobile station comprising;
a mobile GNSS receiver configured to receive GNSS signals;
a mobile transceiver configured to communicate over a communication link comprising a frequency in an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band; and
a mobile station hardware processor programmed to;
wake up at a time or under a condition specified in sleep parameters;
estimate a position of the mobile station;
estimate an orientation of the mobile station;
transmit the estimated position and the estimated orientation of the mobile station and a local mobile clock value to a base station via the mobile transceiver;
receive information associated with GNSS clock and acquisition parameters from the base station;
update the local mobile clock value based at least in part on the information associated with GNSS clock;
cause the mobile GNSS receiver to acquire GNSS signals, based at least in part on the acquisition parameters;
transmit information related to chip transitions in the acquired GNSS signals to the base station;
receive an updated position and information associated with updated sleep parameters from the base station;
update the sleep parameters based at least in part on the information associated with updated sleep parameters from the base station; and
return to sleep; and
a base station comprising;
a base GNSS receiver configured to receive signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites;
a base transceiver configured to communicate over the communication link comprising the frequency in the unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band; and
a base station hardware processor programmed to;
receive the estimated position, the estimated orientation, and the local clock value of the mobile station through the communication link;
transmit one or more messages associated with updating the local mobile station clock value to a base station clock value that is representative of time for the GNSS satellites;
estimate acquisition parameters of GNSS satellites based at least in part on the estimated position of the mobile station;
determine a ranked list of the GNSS satellites based at least in part on the estimated orientation of the mobile station;
transmit, via the communication link to the mobile station, the ranked list of GNSS satellites with associated code phase information;
receive, via the communication link, the chip transitions from the mobile receiver;
calculate the updated position of the mobile station using at least the chip transitions from the mobile receiver; and
transmit the updated position and information associated with the updated sleep parameters to the mobile station.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Low-energy consumption techniques for locating a movable object using a global satellite navigation system (GNSS) are provided. A mobile station attached to or included in a movable object can communicate bidirectionally with a fixed base station to determine a location of the movable object. The mobile station may communicate an estimated position to the base station and receive from the base station a set of GNSS satellites that are visible to the mobile station. The mobile station can acquire satellite timing information from GNSS signals from the set of satellites and communicate minimally-processed satellite timing information to the base station. The base station can determine the position of the mobile station and communicate the position back to the mobile station. By offloading much of the processing to the base station, energy consumption of the mobile station is reduced.
138 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A location system for movable objects, the location system using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), the location system comprising:
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a mobile station configured to be associated with the movable object, the mobile station comprising; a mobile GNSS receiver configured to receive GNSS signals; a mobile transceiver configured to communicate over a communication link comprising a frequency in an unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band; and a mobile station hardware processor programmed to; wake up at a time or under a condition specified in sleep parameters; estimate a position of the mobile station; estimate an orientation of the mobile station; transmit the estimated position and the estimated orientation of the mobile station and a local mobile clock value to a base station via the mobile transceiver; receive information associated with GNSS clock and acquisition parameters from the base station; update the local mobile clock value based at least in part on the information associated with GNSS clock; cause the mobile GNSS receiver to acquire GNSS signals, based at least in part on the acquisition parameters; transmit information related to chip transitions in the acquired GNSS signals to the base station; receive an updated position and information associated with updated sleep parameters from the base station; update the sleep parameters based at least in part on the information associated with updated sleep parameters from the base station; and return to sleep; and a base station comprising; a base GNSS receiver configured to receive signals from a plurality of GNSS satellites; a base transceiver configured to communicate over the communication link comprising the frequency in the unlicensed radio frequency (RF) band; and a base station hardware processor programmed to; receive the estimated position, the estimated orientation, and the local clock value of the mobile station through the communication link; transmit one or more messages associated with updating the local mobile station clock value to a base station clock value that is representative of time for the GNSS satellites; estimate acquisition parameters of GNSS satellites based at least in part on the estimated position of the mobile station; determine a ranked list of the GNSS satellites based at least in part on the estimated orientation of the mobile station; transmit, via the communication link to the mobile station, the ranked list of GNSS satellites with associated code phase information; receive, via the communication link, the chip transitions from the mobile receiver; calculate the updated position of the mobile station using at least the chip transitions from the mobile receiver; and transmit the updated position and information associated with the updated sleep parameters to the mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for locating a movable object, the method comprising:
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under control of a mobile station configured to be attached to or included in or on the movable object, the mobile station comprising a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and a transceiver configured to bidirectionally communicate over a radio frequency (RF) link having an RF link frequency in an RF band that is not licensed for cellular communications; determining by a non-GNSS technique an estimated position of the mobile station; determining by a non-GNSS technique an estimated orientation of the mobile station; communicating, over the RF link, the estimated position and the estimated orientation of the mobile station; receiving, over the RF link, satellite acquisition information that includes a set of GNSS satellites predicted to be viewable at the estimated position of the mobile station and GNSS code phases associated with each GNSS satellite in the set; acquiring GNSS signals from at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set of GNSS satellites; determining, based at least in part from the acquired GNSS signals, chip transition time information associated with the GNSS code phases for the at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set; communicating, over the RF link, the chip transition time information; and receiving, over the RF link, an updated position for the mobile station, the updated position determined based at least partly on the chip transition time information. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A mobile station configured to be attached to or included in or on a movable object, the mobile station comprising:
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a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver; and a transceiver configured to bidirectionally communicate over a radio frequency (RF) link having an RF link frequency in an RF band that is not licensed for cellular communications, the mobile station configured to; determine by a non-GNSS technique an estimated position of the mobile station; determine by a non-GNSS technique an estimated orientation of the mobile station; communicate, over the RF link, the estimated position and the estimated orientation of the mobile station; receive, over the RF link, satellite acquisition information that includes a set of GNSS satellites predicted to be viewable at the estimated position of the mobile station and GNSS code phases associated with each GNSS satellite in the set; acquire GNSS signals from at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set of GNSS satellites; determine, based at least in part from the acquired GNSS signals, chip transition time information associated with the GNSS code phases for the at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set; communicate, over the RF link, the chip transition time information; and receive, over the RF link, an updated position for the mobile station, the updated position determined based at least partly on the chip transition time information.
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17. A method for locating a movable object, the method comprising:
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under control of a base station comprising a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver and a transceiver configured to bidirectionally communicate over a radio frequency (RF) link having an RF link frequency in an RF band that is not licensed for cellular communications; receiving, over the RF link, an estimated position for the movable object; receiving, over the RF link, an estimated orientation for the movable object; determining, based at least in part on the estimated position and the estimated orientation of the movable object, satellite acquisition information that includes a set of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites predicted to be viewable at the estimated position of the movable object and GNSS code phases associated with each GNSS satellite in the set; communicating, over the RF link, the satellite acquisition information; receiving, over the RF link, chip transition time information associated with the GNSS code phases acquired from at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set; determining, based at least in part on the chip transition time information, an updated position for the movable object; and communicating, over the RF link, the updated position. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A base station comprising:
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a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver; and a transceiver configured to bidirectionally communicate over a radio frequency (RF) link having an RF link frequency in an RF band that is not licensed for cellular communications, the base station configured to; receive, over the RF link, an estimated position for a movable object; receive, over the RF link, an estimated orientation for the movable object; determine, based at least in part on the estimated position and the estimated orientation of the movable object, satellite acquisition information that includes a set of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites predicted to be viewable at the estimated position of the movable object and GNSS code phases associated with each GNSS satellite in the set; communicate, over the RF link, the satellite acquisition information; receive, over the RF link, chip transition time information associated with the GNSS code phases acquired from at least some of the GNSS satellites in the set; determine, based at least in part on the chip transition time information, an updated position for the movable object; and communicate, over the RF link, the updated position.
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Specification