MOBILE STATION LOCALIZATION APPARATUS, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS

• US 20080153507A1
• Filed: 12/20/2006
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Taaghol, Pouya, Venkatachalam, Muthaiah
• Granted Patent: US 7,787,891 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Embodiments herein may use first and second path loss values L1 and L2 to calculate first and second distances R1 and R2 between the MS and first and second base stations BS1 and BS2, respectively, in a wireless packet-carrying network. L1 and L2 may comprise values of a reduction in signal strength of signals as transmitted by the BS1 and the BS2 and as received by the MS. The MS may triangulate its position relative to a grid using R1 and R2. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

Claims

1. An apparatus, including:

a path distance module associated with a mobile station (MS) in a wireless packet-carrying network to calculate a first distance (R1) between the MS and a first base station (BS1) using a first path loss value (L1), wherein L1 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS1 and as received by the MS and to calculate a second distance (R2) between the MS and a second base station (BS2) using a second path loss value (L2), wherein L2 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS2 and as received by the MS; and

a triangulation module coupled to the path distance module to triangulate a position of the MS relative to a grid using R1 and R2.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further including:

a position assistant information (PAI) frame decoder coupled to the path distance module to decode first path loss parameter values received at the MS from the BS1 and to decode second path loss parameter values received at the MS from the BS2, and to pass the first path loss parameter values and the second path loss parameter values to the path distance module.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first path loss parameter values comprise at least one of a value of transmit power (P1) at the BS1, an antenna height (H1) associated with the BS1, or a position (X1,Y1) of the BS1 relative to the grid, and wherein the second path loss parameter values comprise at least one of a value of transmit power P2 at the BS2, an antenna height (H2) associated with the BS2, or a position (X2,Y2) of the BS2 relative to the grid.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, further including:

path loss logic coupled to the PAI frame decoder to calculate L1 as a difference between the value of transmit power P1 and a first signal strength (S1) of the signal as received at the MS from the BS1 and to calculate L2 as a difference between the value of transmit power P2 and a second signal strength (S2) of the signal as received at the MS from the BS2.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, further including:

received signal strength logic coupled to the path loss logic to determine S1 and S2.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, further including:

a receiver coupled to the PAI frame decoder to receive frames containing the first and second path loss parameter values.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further including:

a transmitter coupled to the triangulation module to transmit the position of the MS relative to the grid to another network entity.

8. A system, including:

a path distance module associated with a mobile station (MS) in a wireless packet-carrying network to calculate a first distance (R1) between the MS and a first base station (BS1) using a first path loss value (L1), wherein L1 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS1 and as received by the MS and to calculate a second distance (R2) between the MS and a second base station (BS2) using a second path loss value (L2), wherein L2 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS2 and as received by the MS;

a triangulation module coupled to the path distance module to triangulate a position of the MS relative to a grid using R1 and R2; and

a display coupled to the triangulation module to display the position of the MS relative to the grid.

9. The system of claim 8, further including:

an MS antenna height configuration module coupled to the path distance module to make available a value of an MS antenna height for use in calculating the LI and the L2.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the MS antenna height configuration module is configured to store a static value of the value of the MS antenna height.

11. A method, including:

at a mobile station (MS) in a wireless packet-carrying network, calculating a first distance (R1) between the MS and a first base station (BS1) using a first path loss value (L1), wherein L1 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS1 and as received by the MS;

calculating a second distance (R2) between the MS and a second base station (BS2) using a second path loss value (L2), wherein L2 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS2 and as received by the MS; and

triangulating a position of the MS relative to a grid using R1 and R2.

12. The method of claim 11, further including:

utilizing a COST231-Hata model to calculate R1 from L1 and R2 from L2.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein triangulating the position of the MS relative to the grid comprises:

solving R1²=(X−

X₁)²+(Y−

Y₁)² and R2²=(X−

X₂)²+(Y−

Y₂)² for X and Y, wherein X and Y comprise coordinates of the MS on the grid, X₁ and Y₁ comprise coordinates of the BS1 on the grid, and X₂ and Y₂ comprise coordinates of the BS2 on the grid.

14. The method of claim 13, further including:

receiving first path loss parameter values at the MS from the BS1; and

receiving second path loss parameter values at the MS from the BS2.

15. The method of claim 14, further including:

measuring a first signal strength (S1) of a signal received at the MS from the BS1 and;

measuring a second signal strength (S2) of a signal received at the MS from the BS2.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein L1 comprises a function of the first path loss parameter values and S1 and wherein L2 comprises a function of the second path loss parameter values and S2.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the first path loss parameter values comprise at least one of a value of transmit power (P1) at the BS1, an antenna height (H1) associated with the BS1, or a position (X1,Y1) of the BS1 relative to a grid, and wherein the second path loss parameter values comprise at least one of a value of transmit power (P2) at the BS2, an antenna height (H2) associated with the BS2, and a position (X2, Y2) of the BS2 relative to the grid.

18. The method of claim 17, further including:

subtracting S1 from P1 to obtain L1; and

subtracting S2 from P2 to obtain L2.

19. The method of claim 17, further including:

calculating R1 as ten to the power of (L1−

(46.3+33.9 log(f_c1)−

13.82 log(h_b1))−

E1+G1)/(44.9−

6.55 log(h_b1)); and

calculating R2 as ten to the power of (L2−

(46.3+33.9 log(f_c2)−

13.82 log(h_b2))−

E2+G2)/(44.9−

6.55 log(h_b2)), wherein E1 and E2 are approximately equal to 3.2(log(11.75h_m))²−

4.97, G1 and G2 are approximately equal to zero dBm for medium cities and suburban areas and three dBm for large cities, f_c1 is approximately equal to a carrier frequency associated with the BS1, f_c2 is approximately equal to a carrier frequency associated with the BS2, h_b1 is an approximate height of an antenna associated with the BS1 above a ground level, h_b2 is an approximate height of an antenna associated with the BS2 above the ground level, and h_m is an approximate height of an antenna associated with the MS above the ground level.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein h_m is configured statically in the MS.

21. The method of claim 19, further including:

substituting values obtained for R1 and R2 from the method of claim 19 into the method of claim 13 to obtain the position of the MS (X,Y) relative to the grid; and

performing at least one of displaying (X,Y) on a display at the MS, using (X,Y) in an operation at the MS, or transmitting (X,Y) to another network entity for at least one of display at the other network entity, use in an operation at the other network entity, or forwarding to a third network entity.

22. A computer-readable medium having instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed, result in at least one processor performing:

at a mobile station (MS) in a wireless packet-carrying network, calculating a first distance (R1) between the MS and a first base station (BS1) using a first path loss value (L1), wherein L1 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS1 and as received by the MS;

calculating a second distance (R2) between the MS and a second base station (BS2) using a second path loss value (L2), wherein L2 comprises a value of a reduction in signal strength of a signal as transmitted by the BS2 and as received by the MS; and

triangulating a position of the MS relative to a grid using R1 and R2.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the instructions, when executed, result in the at least one processor performing:

at the MS, receiving at least one of a value of transmit power (P1) emitted at the BS1, an antenna height (H1) associated with the BS1, a position (X1,Y1) of the BS1 relative to a grid, a value of transmit power (P2) emitted at the BS2, an antenna height (H2) associated with the BS2, or a position (X2,Y2) of the BS2 relative to a grid; and

calculating L1 and L2 using at least one of P1, P2, H1, H2, (X1,Y1), (X2,Y2), a height of the MS above a ground level, or a received signal strength from at least one of the BS1 or the BS2.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the instructions, when executed, result in the at least one processor performing:

filtering interfering signals from the signal as transmitted by the BS1 and as received by the MS and from the signal as transmitted by the BS2 and as received by the MS; and

obtaining the signal strength of the signal as transmitted by the BS1 and as received by the MS by averaging first measurements taken over a first selected time period; and

obtaining the signal strength of the signal as transmitted by the BS2 and as received by the MS by averaging second measurements taken over a second selected time period.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the BS1 operates according to a first wireless networking standard and wherein the BS2 operates according to a second wireless networking standard.