METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOCATING A WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK ASSOCIATED WITH A WIRELESS WIDE AREA NETWORK

• US 20070243882A1
• Filed: 03/26/2007
• Published: 10/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Edge, Stephen W.
• Application Number:
  US11/691,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20070243882A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• 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 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Various concepts are disclosed in connection with locating a wireless local area network associated with a wireless wide area network. These concepts involve obtaining the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network, measuring the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters, and locating the first network based on the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker.

Claims

1. A method for locating a first network, comprising:

obtaining the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network;

measuring the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters; and

locating the first network based on the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising accessing the first network when located.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising obtaining the location of each of the two transmitters and using the locations and the differences in arrival time of the marker to obtain the difference in transmission time of the marker.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the location of each of the two transmitters is obtained using the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters and the location of where the markers are received.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the location of one of the transmitters is obtained using the arrival time of the marker from said one of the transmitters and the location of where the marker from said one of the transmitters is received.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein the location of one of the transmitters is obtained by using the signal propagation time of the marker from said one of the transmitters at two different locations.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters is provided by the second network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters is obtained by using the signal propagation delay of the marker and the time of arrival of the marker for each of the two transmitters.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the two transmitters are synchronized, and wherein the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters is set to zero.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the first network is located by comparing the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker to a fingerprint of the first network.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising creating the fingerprint by detecting the first network and recording the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker when the first network is detected.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising receiving at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising obtaining a preliminary fingerprint, providing the preliminary fingerprint to the second network to create at least a portion of the fingerprint, and receiving said at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

14. A wireless terminal configured to operate in a first network, comprising:

at least one processor configured to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network, measure the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters, and locate the first network based on the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor.

15. The wireless terminal of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to access the first network when located.

16. The wireless terminal of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to obtain the location of each of the two transmitters and use the locations and the differences in arrival time of the marker to obtain the difference in transmission time of the marker.

17. The wireless terminal of claim 16 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to locate each of the two transmitters using the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters and the location of the wireless terminal.

18. The wireless terminal of claim 16 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to locate one of the transmitters using the arrival time of the marker from said one of the transmitters and the location of the wireless terminal.

19. The wireless terminal of claim 16 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to locate one of the transmitters using the signal propagation time of the marker from said one of the transmitters at two different locations.

20. The wireless terminal of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters from the second network.

21. The wireless terminal of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to obtain the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters using the signal propagation delay of the marker and the time of arrival of the marker for each of the two transmitters.

22. The wireless terminal of claim 14 wherein the two transmitters are synchronized, and wherein the processor is further configured to set the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters to zero.

23. The wireless terminal of claim 14 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to locate the first network by comparing the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker to a fingerprint of the first network.

24. The wireless terminal of claim 23 wherein the at least one processor is further configured to create the fingerprint by detecting the first network and recording the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker when the first network is detected.

25. The wireless terminal of claim 23 wherein the processor is further configured to receive at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

26. The wireless terminal of claim 23 wherein the processor is further configured to obtain a preliminary fingerprint, provide the preliminary fingerprint to the second network to create at least a portion of the fingerprint, and receive said at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

27. A wireless terminal configured to operate in a first network, comprising:

means for obtaining the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network;

means for measuring the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters; and

means for locating the first network based on the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker.

28. The wireless terminal of claim 27 further comprising means for accessing the first network when located.

29. The wireless terminal of claim 27 wherein the means for obtaining the difference in transmission time of a marker between the two transmitters comprises means for obtaining the location of each of the two transmitters and using the locations and the differences in arrival time of the marker to obtain the difference in transmission time of the marker.

30. The wireless terminal of claim 29 wherein means for obtaining the location of each of the two transmitters comprises means for using the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters and the location of the wireless terminal to obtain the location of each of the two transmitters.

31. The wireless terminal of claim 29 wherein means for obtaining the location of each of the two transmitters comprises means for locating of one of the transmitters using the arrival time of the marker from said one of the transmitters and the location of the wireless device.

32. The wireless terminal of claim 29 wherein means for obtaining the location of each of the two transmitters comprises means for locating of one of the transmitters using the signal propagation time of the marker from said one of the transmitters at two different locations.

33. The wireless terminal of claim 27 wherein the means for obtaining the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters is configured to receive the difference in transmission time from the second network.

34. The wireless terminal of claim 27 wherein the means for obtaining the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters comprises means for using the signal propagation delay of the marker and the time of arrival of the marker for each of the two transmitters.

35. The wireless terminal of claim 27 wherein the two transmitters are synchronized, and wherein the means for obtaining the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters comprises means for setting the difference in transmission time of the marker to zero.

36. The wireless terminal of claim 27 wherein the means for locating the first network comprises means for comparing the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker to a fingerprint of the first network.

37. The wireless terminal of claim 36 further comprising means for creating the fingerprint by detecting the first network and recording the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker when the first network is detected.

38. The wireless terminal of claim 36 further comprising means for receiving at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

39. The wireless terminal of claim 36 further comprising means for obtaining a preliminary fingerprint, providing the preliminary fingerprint to the second network to create at least a portion of the fingerprint, and receiving said at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

49. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the code for causing the at least one computer to locate the first network based on the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker segment includes code to compare the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker to a fingerprint of the first network.

50. The computer program product of claim 49 wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to create the fingerprint by detecting the first network and recording the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker when the first network is detected.

51. The computer program product of claim 49 wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to receive at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

52. The computer program product of claim 49 wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to obtain a preliminary fingerprint, provide the preliminary fingerprint to the second network to create at least a portion of the fingerprint, and receive said at least a portion of the fingerprint from the second network.

40. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer-readable medium, comprising;

code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network;

code for causing the at least one computer to measure the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters; and

code for causing the at least one computer to locate the first network based on the difference in transmission time and the difference in arrival time of the marker.

41. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the computer-readable medium further comprises code for causing the at least one computer to access the first network when located.

42. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to obtain the location of each of the two transmitters and code to use the locations and the differences in arrival time of the marker to obtain the difference in transmission time of the marker.

43. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to use the difference in arrival time of the marker between the two transmitters and the location of the wireless terminal to obtain the location of each of the two transmitters.

44. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to locate of one of the transmitters using the arrival time of the marker from said one of the transmitters and the location of the wireless device.

45. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to locate one of the transmitters using the signal propagation time of the marker from said one of the transmitters at two different locations.

46. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to receive the difference in transmission time from the second network.

47. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to use the signal propagation delay of the marker and the time of arrival of the marker for each of the two transmitters to obtain the difference in transmission time from the second network.

48. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the two transmitters are synchronized, and wherein the code for causing at least one computer to obtain the difference in transmission time of a marker between two transmitters in a second network includes code to set the difference in transmission time of the marker between the two transmitters to zero.