Precise common timing in a wireless network
First Claim
1. A wireless communications network comprising:
- a plurality of wireless mobile units;
a plurality of base stations, each of said plurality of wireless mobile units receiving wireless communication from one or more of said plurality of base stations, any of said plurality of wireless mobile units receiving wireless communication from at least two of said plurality of base stations measuring timing differences from said at least two and providing measured said timing differences to at least one of said plurality of base stations;
at least one timing marker unit having a common time source, said timing marker unit relating wireless transmission timing from at least one of said plurality of base stations to said common time source, each of said at least one being a reference base station, and deriving transmission timing relationships to said common time source as timing associations;
a central network entity, said central network entity receiving said measured timing differences and said timing associations from said plurality of base stations, said central network entity determining timing associations for at least one non-reference base station; and
at least one recipient entity receiving said timing associations for said at least one non-reference base station from said central entity.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of providing precise common timing in a wireless communications network including at least one timing marker unit with a precise common time source, e.g., GPS. Wireless mobile units and/or timing marker units periodically measure transmission timing differences between pairs of neighboring base stations and each provide the measurements to a base station or central network entity. Timing marker units measure timing associations and return the results. An absolute transmission timing difference (ATD) is determined for each base station timing difference measurement. ATDs are collected and combined for each pair of base stations. A timing relationship is developed for all base stations from the combined ATDs, relating transmission timing of non-reference base stations to reference base stations. Timing associations are extracted for non-reference base stations from these timing difference relationships and the timing associations for the reference base stations.
112 Citations
85 Claims
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1. A wireless communications network comprising:
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a plurality of wireless mobile units;
a plurality of base stations, each of said plurality of wireless mobile units receiving wireless communication from one or more of said plurality of base stations, any of said plurality of wireless mobile units receiving wireless communication from at least two of said plurality of base stations measuring timing differences from said at least two and providing measured said timing differences to at least one of said plurality of base stations;
at least one timing marker unit having a common time source, said timing marker unit relating wireless transmission timing from at least one of said plurality of base stations to said common time source, each of said at least one being a reference base station, and deriving transmission timing relationships to said common time source as timing associations;
a central network entity, said central network entity receiving said measured timing differences and said timing associations from said plurality of base stations, said central network entity determining timing associations for at least one non-reference base station; and
at least one recipient entity receiving said timing associations for said at least one non-reference base station from said central entity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method of providing precise common timing to wireless entities including mobile stations and base stations in a wireless network, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) measuring timing differences between pairs of a plurality of base stations including at least one reference base station and timing associations for said at least one reference base station;
b) obtaining absolute timing differences (ATDs) from said measured timing differences (MTDs);
c) aggregating said ATDs for each of said pairs of said plurality of base stations;
d) adjusting said measured timing associations to current time;
e) reducing errors in said aggregated ATDs;
f) obtaining timing associations for non-reference base stations from said timing associations and said aggregated ATDs; and
g) providing said obtained timing associations to selected wireless network entities. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method of providing precise common timing to wireless network entities including mobile stations and base stations in a wireless network, said method comprising the steps of:
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a) measuring timing differences between pairs of a plurality of base stations including reference base stations and measuring timing associations for said reference base stations;
b) obtaining absolute timing differences (ATDs) from measured said timing differences (MTDs);
c) aggregating and combining said ATDs for each of pairs of said plurality of base stations;
d) adjusting measured said timing associations to current time;
e) forming a network graph representing combined aggregated ATDs for said plurality of base stations;
f) graphically reducing errors in said combined aggregated ATDs;
g) obtaining timing associations for non-reference base stations from said timing associations and error reduced said ATDs; and
h) providing obtained said timing associations to selected wireless network entities. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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Specification