A SYSTEM CONTROLLABLE BY AN EXTERNAL MICROCONTROLLER VIA AN INTERFACE

• US 20070296628A1
• Filed: 06/22/2006
• Published: 12/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telit Cinterion Deutschland GmbH (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Schroter, Hartmut
• Granted Patent: US 7,453,397 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.64
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/25 involving aiding data received from a cooperating element, e.g. assisted GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/35 Constructional details or hardware or software details of the signal processing chain
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/009 Transmission of differential positioning data to mobile

Abstract

A system controllable by an external microcontroller via an interface external to the system includes a radio module, and a GPS receiver. The radio module is adapted to 1) pass messages received via the interface to the GPS receiver via an internal interface, and 2) to receive messages from the GPS receiver via an internal interface and pass them further to the external interface.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an external microcontroller that transmits control data to the system via an external interface;

a radio module; and

a satellite positioning system receiver, wherein radio module messages received via an external interface are transmitted to the satellite positioning system receiver via an internal interface, and wherein messages received from the satellite positioning system receiver via the internal interface are passed to the external interface.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a real time clock operatively coupled to the radio module and the satellite positioning system receiver.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a processing unit that controls both the radio module and the satellite positioning system receiver.

4. The system according claim 3, wherein the processing unit controls the radio module with a first subset of commands received, and controls the satellite positioning system receiver with a second subset of commands received.

5. The system according claim 4, wherein commands in the first subset and in the second subset have a common format.

6. The system according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit synchronizes the activation of the satellite positioning system receiver with that the radio module.

7. The system according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit synchronizes setting the satellite positioning system receiver to a standby state with setting the radio module to a standby state.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the radio module comprises a base band unit that transmits or receives data to or from a cellular network.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein said cellular network is a cellular network supporting GSM on at least one of the following frequency bands:

GSM 850 MHz, GSM 900 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, and GSM 1900 MHz.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the satellite positioning system receiver is a GPS receiver.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the satellite positioning system receiver is a Galileo-system.