Method and device for positioning user equipment, and system

• US 10,149,270 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2016
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Zhang, Yi
• Primary Examiner(s): Elhag, Magdi
• Application Number:
  US15/395,510
• Publication Number:
  US 20170111881A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/003 locating network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network

Abstract

A method, device and system for positioning user equipment (UE). The method is applied to a communications system including a location card, a signal transmitter and a reader. The location card and the signal transmitter are in a one-to-one correspondence, a distance between the location card and the signal transmitter corresponding to the location card is less than a preset value, and the method includes detecting, by the location card, an uplink signal sent by UE, and generating, by the location card, a first signal according to the uplink signal, and sending the first signal to the reader such that the reader determines a location of the UE according to the first signal and a location of the location card. The method not only simplifies a method for positioning UE in other approaches, but also improves accuracy of UE positioning.

Claims

1. A method for positioning user equipment (UE), the method being applied to a communications system, the communications system comprising a location card and a reader, and the method comprising:

detecting, by the location card, an uplink signal from the UE;

generating, by the location card, a first signal according to the uplink signal, the first signal comprising a pulse signal having an amplitude, the amplitude of the pulse signal being based on a preset proportional relationship with a strength of the uplink signal, the amplitude of the pulse signal being increased when the strength of the uplink signal increases, and the amplitude of the pulse signal being decreased when the strength of the uplink signal decreases;

sending, by the location card, the first signal to the reader, the first signal carrying identification information of the location card, and the first signal instructing the reader to determine a location of the UI according to the identification information of the location card, the amplitude of the pulse signal, and a location of the location card; and

sending, by the reader, a notification message to a network side device to adjust a transmit power of the UE based on a number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE, the notification message being used to increase the transmit poser of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is less than a preset first threshold, and the notification message being used to decrease the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is greater than a preset second threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the first signal comprises generating, by the location card, the first signal according to the pulse signal and the identification information of the location card.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the location card, an indication signal from the reader, the indication signal instructing the location card to send a second signal; and

sending, by the location card, the second signal to at least one location card except the location card.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, by another location card, the second signal from the location card;

generating, by the other location card, a third signal according to the second signal; and

sending the third signal to the reader, the third signal carrying the identification information of the location card and identification information of the other location card, and the third signal instructing the reader to determine, according to an arrival time of the third signal and a sending time of the indication signal, a relative distance between the location card and the other location card.

5. A method for positioning user equipment (UE), the method being applied to a communications system, the communications system comprising a location card and a reader, and the method comprising:

receiving, by the reader, a first signal from the location card, the first signal being generated by the location card according to an uplink signal from the UE, the first signal carrying identification information of the location card, the first signal comprising a pulse signal having an amplitude, and the amplitude of the pulse signal being based on a preset proportional relationship with a strength of the uplink signal;

determining, by the reader, a location of the UE according to the identification information of the location card, the amplitude of the pulse signal, and a location of the location card, the reader determining the location of the UE based on the amplitude of the pulse signal increasing when the strength of the uplink signal increases and the amplitude of the pulse signal decreasing when the strength of the uplink signal decreases; and

sending, by the reader, a notification message to a network side device to adjust a transmit power of the UE based on a number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE, the notification message being used to increase the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is less than a preset first threshold, and the notification message being used to decrease the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is greater than a preset second threshold.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the location of the UE comprises:

determining, by the reader, a first distance between the location card and the UE according to a signal strength of the first signal, and determining the location of the UE according to the first distance and the location of the location card;

obtaining, by the reader, the location of the location card according to the first signal, and determining the location of the UE according to the location of the location card and a location of at least one location card except the location card, the at least one location card being a location card that successfully detects the uplink signal of the UE and sends, according to the uplink signal, a signal to the reader;

or

obtaining, by the reader, the location of the location card according to the first signal, and determining the location of the UE according to a movement track of the UE and the location of the location card.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein before receiving the first signal from the location card, the method further comprises obtaining, by the reader, the location of the location card.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising sending, by the reader, location information of the UE to a network side device.

9. A device for positioning user equipment (UE), the device comprising a location card, the location card applied to a communications system, the communications system further comprising a reader, and the location card comprising:

a receiver configured to receive and detect an uplink signal from the UE;

a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to generate a first signal according to the uplink signal detected by the receiver, the first signal comprising a pulse signal having an amplitude, the amplitude of the pulse signal being based on a preset proportional relationship with a strength of the uplink signal, the amplitude of the pulse signal being increased when the strength of the uplink signal increases, and the amplitude of the pulse signal being decreased when the strength of the uplink signal decreases; and

a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to;

send the first signal generated by the processor to the reader, the first signal carrying identification information of the location card, and the first signal instructing the reader to determine a location of the UE according to the identification information of the location card, the amplitude of the pulse signal, and a location of the location card; and

send a notification message to adjust a transmit power of the UE based on a number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE, the notification message being used to increase the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is less than a preset first threshold, and the notification message being used to decrease the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is greater than a preset second threshold.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive an indication signal from the reader, the indication signal instructing the location card to send a second signal, the processor being further configured to generate the second signal, and the transmitter being further configured to send the second signal to another location card.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the second signal from the location card, the processor being further configured to generate a third signal according to the second signal, the transmitter being further configured to send the third signal to the reader, the third signal carrying the identification information of the location card and identification information of the other location card, and the third signal instructing the reader to determine, according to an arrival time of the third signal and a sending time of the indication signal, a relative distance between the location card and the other location card.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine the identification information of the other location card according to the second signal, and generate the third signal according to the identification information of the other location card, the identification information of the location card, and the second signal;

or

generate the third signal by carrying the identification information of the location card in the second signal, the second signal carrying the identification information of the other location card, and the third signal carrying the identification information of the location card and the identification information of the other location card.

13. A device for positioning user equipment (UE), the device comprising a reader, the reader being applied to a communications system, the communications system further comprising a location card, and the reader comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a first signal from the location card, the first signal being generated by the location card according to an uplink signal from the UE, the first signal carrying identification information of the location card, the first signal comprising a pulse signal having an amplitude, and the amplitude of the pulse signal being based on a preset proportional relationship with a strength of the uplink signal; and

a processor coupled to the receiver and configured to;

determine a location of the UE according to the first signal received by the receiver and a location of the location card, the reader determining the location of the UE based on the amplitude of the pulse signal increasing when the strength of the uplink signal increases and the amplitude of the pulse signal decreasing when the strength of the uplink signal decreases; and

send a notification message to a network side device to adjust a transmit power of the UE based on a number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE, the notification message being used to increase the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is less than a preset first threshold, and the notification message being used to decrease the transmit power of the UE when the number of location cards that detect the uplink signal from the UE is greater than a preset second threshold.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a first distance between the location card and the UE according to a signal strength of the first signal, and determine the location of the UE according to the first distance and the location of the location card;

obtain the location of the location card according to the first signal, and determine the location of the UE according to the location of the location card and a location of at least one location card except the location card, the at least one location card being a location card that successfully detects the uplink signal of the UE and sends, according to the uplink signal, a signal to the reader;

or

obtain the location of the location card according to the first signal, and determine the location of the UE according to a movement track of the UE and the location of the location card.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the location of the location card.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein when obtaining the location of the location card, the processor is further configured to:

send an indication signal, the indication signal instructing another location card to send a second signal;

receive a third signal from the location card, the third signal carrying the identification information of the location card and identification information of the other location card, and the third signal being generated by the location card according to the second signal from the other location card;

determine a relative distance between the location card and the other location card according to an arrival time of the third signal and a sending time of the indication signal; and

determine the location of the location card according to an actual distance between the other location card and any location card except the location card and the other location card.

17. The device of claim 13, wherein the transmitter is further configured to send location information of the UE determined by the processor to a network side device.