Method and apparatus for supporting location services via a home node B (HNB)

• US 10,383,166 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2017
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Edge, Stephen William, Lopes, Luis F. B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lafontant, Gary
• Application Number:
  US15/594,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20170251055A1
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/04 Reselecting a cell layer in multi-layered cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/08 Reselecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 76/27 Transitions between radio resource control [RRC] states
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

Techniques for supporting location services for a base station such as a home Node B (HNB) and its user equipments (UEs) are disclosed. In an aspect, location services may be supported for a UE by having an HNB inter-work between user plane and control plane location solutions. In another aspect, a location server may be used to support assisted GNSS (A-GNSS) for HNBs and UEs. In one design, a location server receives a positioning request including an identification value from a base station, determines a positioning method based on the identification value, sends a positioning response to the base station based on the positioning method, receives positioning information from the base station, determines the position of the base station based on the positioning information, and stores the position of the base station.

Claims

1. A method of determining a position of a base station, at a location server, in a wireless network, comprising:

receiving, at a location server, a positioning request, for a location of the base station, including an identification value, from the base station;

determining, at the location server, a positioning method based on the identification value;

sending, from the location server, a positioning response to the base station based on the positioning method;

receiving, at the location server, positioning information from the base station;

determining, at the location server, the position of the base station based on the positioning information; and

storing the position of the base station, at the location server.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the base station is a Home Node B (HNB).

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the identification value is a common reserved International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) value or a common reserved International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) value.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the identification value is a client type parameter.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the positioning response includes a request for A-GNSS measurements.

6. A method of determining a position of a base station in a wireless network, comprising:

receiving, at a base station, a positioning response from a location server, wherein the positioning response is based on a positioning method;

in response to determining, at the base station, that the positioning method is supported by the base station, acquiring positioning information and sending the positioning information to the location server; and

in response to determining, at the base station, that the positioning method is not supported by the base station, sending a position activation failure message to the location server.

7. The method of claim 6 further receiving the position of the base station from the location server.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the base station is a Home Node B (HNB).

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising sending an identification value to the location server, wherein the identification value is a common reserved International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) value or a common reserved International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) value.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the identification value is a client type parameter.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein the positioning response includes a request for A-GNSS measurements.

12. An location server for determining a position of a base station in a wireless network, comprising:

a memory unit for storing instructions; and

at least one processor and communications unit coupled to the memory unit and configured to;

receive a positioning request, for a location of the base station, including an identification value, from the base station;

determine a positioning method based on the identification value;

send a positioning response to the base station based on the positioning method;

receive positioning information from the base station;

determine the position of the base station based on the positioning information; and

store the position of the base station.

13. The location server of claim 12 wherein the base station is a Home Node B (HNB).

14. The location server of claim 12 wherein the identification value is a common reserved International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) value or a common reserved International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) value.

15. The location server of claim 12 wherein the identification value is a client type parameter.

16. The location server of claim 12 wherein the positioning response includes a request for A-GNSS measurements.

17. The location server of claim 12, wherein the base station comprises an HNodeB gateway.

18. A base station comprising:

a memory unit for storing instructions; and

at least one processor and communications unit coupled to the memory unit and configured to;

receive a positioning response from a location server, wherein the positioning response is based on a positioning method;

acquire positioning information and send the position information to the location server in response to determining that the positioning method is supported by the base station; and

send a position activation failure message to the location server in response to determining that the positioning method is not supported by the base station.

19. The base station of claim 18 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the position of the base station from the location server.

20. The base station of claim 18 wherein the base station is a Home Node B (HNB).

21. The base station of claim 18 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send an identification value, wherein the identification value is a common reserved International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) value or a common reserved International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) value.

22. The base station of claim 21 wherein the identification value is a client type parameter.

23. The base station of claim 18 wherein the positioning response includes a request for A-GNSS measurements.