System and method for reference data processing in network assisted position determination

• US 20030210656A1
• Filed: 12/13/2002
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Biacs, Zoltan, Moeglein, Mark, McGloin, Justin
• Granted Patent: US 7,522,588 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/071 DGPS corrections
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/009 Transmission of differential positioning data to mobile

Abstract

A system and method of preprocessing reference data in a reference assisted location technology are disclosed. A plurality of reference stations each provides reference data over a network to a preprocessing. The preprocessor analyzes the data from the multiple reference stations and eliminates multiples sets of redundant data. In addition, the preprocessor can perform quality assurance checks on the data as well as the status of the reference stations themselves. Non-redundant data may also be preprocessed to perform differential GPS calculations. The preprocessed data is transmitted to one or more position servers for additional processing and position determination.

Claims

1. An apparatus for processing reference data, comprising:

a first processor to receive reference data from a plurality of position location reference situations and to generate processed data from the received reference data; and

a first position determining processor (PDP) coupled to the first processor to calculate the position of a mobile unit based at least in part on the processed data.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of position location reference stations are associated with a first network and the first PDP is associated with a second network.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a router associated with the second network to receive data from the first network wherein the first processor is associated with the second network and the router associated with the second network receives the reference data from the plurality of position location reference stations with the first network.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first processor is associated with the first network and the router associated with the second network receives the processed data from the first network.

5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the first and second networks and local area networks and the router associated with the second network communicates with the first networks via a wide area network (WAN).

6. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a second processor associated alternatively with the first or second network.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the first processor is associated with the first network and the second processor is associated with the second network.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the first processor functions in a pass through mode to forward the reference data to the second processor, the second processor generating the processed data.

9. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a second PDP associated with the second network.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the first PDP calculates the position of a first mobile unit based at least in part on the processed data from the first processor and the second PDP calculates the position of a second mobile unit based at least in part on the processed data from the first processor.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a second processor to process reference data from the reference data sources.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the second PDP is communicatively coupled to the second processor and receives the processed data therefrom.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second processor to receive reference data from the plurality of reference data sources and to generate processed data therefrom.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a second PDP coupled to the second processor.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a second PDP coupled to the first processor.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein first processor filters the reference data to remove redundant data from the plurality of reference data sources, the processed data comprising filtered data.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein first processor analyzes the reference data to remove unreliable reference data received from the plurality of reference data sources, the processed data comprising data determined to be reliable.

18. An apparatus for processing reference data for wireless assisted positioning using data received from a plurality of reference data sources for subsequent processing by a position determining processor (PDP), comprising:

a communication controller to control communication with the reference data sources and to receive the reference data therefrom; and

a first processor communicatively coupled to the communication controller to receive the reference data therefrom, the first processor processing the reference data from the reference data sources to remove redundant reference data and thereby generate processed data, the communication controller communicating the processed data to the PDP.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the first processor being associated with the second network.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the first processor receives the reference data from the first network via a communication link coupling the first and second networks, the first processor communicating the processed data to the PDP via the second network.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the PDP is implemented as a part of a computer system, the first processor being a portion of the PDP computer system.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDE is associated with a second network, the first processor being associated with the first network.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the first processor receives the reference data via the first network and communicates the processed data to the PDP via a communication link coupling the first and second networks.

24. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the first and second networks being coupled together by a wide area network (WAN) with the first processor being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

25. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the first processor further analyzes the reference data to remove unreliable reference data received from the plurality of reference data sources, the processed data comprising data determined to be reliable.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the first processor further analyzes the performance of the plurality of reference data sources based on reliability of reference data from the respective reference data sources.

27. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the reference data comprises a sequence of data packets received by the communication controller, the first processor analyzing the data packet sequence from at least a portion of the plurality of reference data sources to generate statistical data regarding the performance of the portion of reference data sources.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the statistical performance data is based at least in part on data related to out of sequence data packets, missing data packets, and missing data portions within the data packets.

29. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a second processor to process the reference data from the reference data sources.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network with the first processor being associated alternatively with the first or second network and the second processor being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

31. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, with the first processor being associated with the first network and the second processor being associated with the second network, the first processor functioning in a pass through mode to forward the reference data to the second processor.

32. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the first and second processors are coupled together via a communication link in a redundant configuration with reference data being routed to both the first and second processors except in the event of failure of one of the first and second processors and, in the event of failure of one of the first and second processors, the data being routed to the remaining one of the first and second processors that did not fail.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising first and second routers each communicatively coupled to both the first and second processors and configured to route portions of the reference data to the first and second processors.

34. An apparatus for processing reference data for wireless assisted positioning using data received from a plurality of reference data sources for subsequent processing by a position determining processor (PDP), comprising:

first processor means for processing the reference data from the reference data sources to remove redundant reference data and thereby generate processed data; and

communication means for communicating the processed data to the PDP.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the first processor means being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

36. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the PDP is implemented as a part of a computer system, the first processor means being a portion of the PDP computer system.

37. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the first and second networks being coupled together by a wide area network (WAN) with the first processor means being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

38. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein the first processor means further comprises means for removing unreliable reference data received from the plurality of reference data sources, the processed data comprising data determined to be reliable.

39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the first processor means generates statistical data regarding a performance level of at least a portion of the plurality of data reference sources based on data reliability.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein the reference data comprises a sequence of data packets and the first processor means generates the statistical data based on data related to out of sequence data packets, missing data packets, and missing data portions within data packets.

41. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising second processor means for processing the reference data from the reference data sources.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, further comprising a second PDP wherein the first processor means generates processed data for the PDP and the second processor generates processed data for the second PDP.

43. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network with the first processor means being associated alternatively with the first or second network and the second processor means being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

44. The apparatus of claim 41 wherein the first and second processor means are coupled together via a communication link in a redundant configuration with reference data being routed to both the first and second processors except in the event of failure of one of the first and second processor means and, in the event of failure of one of the first and second processor means, the data being routed to the remaining one of the first and second processor means that did not fail.

45. A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a first computer system to process reference data for wireless assisted positioning using data received from a plurality of reference data sources for subsequent processing by a position determining processor (PDP), by causing the first computer system to:

process the reference data from the reference data sources to remove redundant reference data and thereby generate processed data; and

communicate the processed data to the PDP.

46. The computer-readable media of claim 45 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the first computer system being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

47. The computer-readable media of claim 45 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the first and second networks being coupled together by a wide area network (WAN) with the first computer system being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

48. The computer-readable media of claim 45, further comprising contents to cause the first computer system to remove unreliable reference data received from the plurality of reference data sources, the processed data comprising data determined to be reliable.

49. The computer-readable media of claim 45 wherein the computer-readable media further comprises contents to cause the first computer system to generate statistical data regarding a performance level of at least a portion of the plurality of data reference sources based on data reliability.

50. The computer-readable media of claim 49 wherein the reference data comprises a sequence of data packets and the computer-readable media further comprises contents to cause the first computer system to generate the statistical data based on data related to out of sequence data packets, missing data packets, and missing data portions within data packets.

51. The computer-readable media of claim 45, further comprising contents to cause a second computer system to process the reference data from the reference data sources.

52. The computer-readable media of claim 51 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network with the first computer system being associated alternatively with the first or second network and the second computer system being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

53. The computer-readable media of claim 51 wherein the first and second computer systems are coupled together via a communication link in a redundant configuration with reference data being routed to both the first and second computer systems except in the event of failure of one of the first and second computer systems and, in the event of failure of one of the first and second computer systems, the data being routed to the remaining one of the first and second computer systems that did not fail.

54. A method for processing reference data for wireless assisted positioning using data received from a plurality of reference data sources for subsequent processing by a position determining processor (PDP), comprising:

receiving the reference data from the plurality of references data sources;

processing the reference data to remove redundant reference data and thereby generate processed data; and

communicating the processed data to the PDP.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, the processing of the reference data being performed by a computer associated alternatively with the first or second network.

56. The method of claim 54 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, wherein receiving the reference data comprises transferring the unprocessed data from the first network to the second network and communicating the processed data to the PDP comprises transferring the processed data to the PDP via the second network.

57. The method of claim 54 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDP is associated with a second network, wherein receiving the reference data comprises receiving the reference data via the first network and communicating the processed data to the PDP comprises transferring the processed data from the first network to the second network.

58. The method of claim 54, further comprising removing unreliable reference data received from the plurality of reference data sources, the processed data comprising data determined to be reliable.

59. The method of claim 54, further comprising generating statistical data regarding a performance level of at least a portion of the plurality of data reference sources based on data reliability.

60. The method of claim 59 wherein the reference data comprises a sequence of data packets, the method further comprising generating the statistical data based on data related to out of sequence data packets, missing data packets, and missing data portions within data packets.

61. The method of claim 54, further comprising processing the reference data using first and second computer systems.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein position determination is determined by first and second PDPs, and the first computer system processes reference data for communication to the first PDP and the second computer system processes reference data for communication to the second PDP.

63. The method of claim 61 wherein the plurality of reference data sources are associated with a first network and the PDE is associated with a second network with the first computer system being associated alternatively with the first or second network and the second computer system being associated alternatively with the first or second network.

64. The method of claim 61 wherein the first and second computer systems are coupled together via a communication link in a redundant configuration, the method further comprising routing the reference data to both the first and second computer systems except in the event of failure of one of the first and second computer systems and, in the event of failure of one of the first and second computer systems, routing the data to the remaining one of the first and second computer systems that did not fail.