METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING LOCATION OF ACCESS POINT

• US 20080242310A1
• Filed: 03/27/2007
• Published: 10/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Vassilovski, Dan
• Application Number:
  US11/692,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20080242310A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/021 Calibration, monitoring or correction G01S5/0252 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0249 Determining position using measurements made by a non-stationary device other than the device whose position is being determined
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location

Abstract

Method and apparatus for determining a location of an access point associated with a wireless communication network use phase measurements of a signal transmitted from an access point, at known locations to calculate the location of the access point. In some aspects, GPS information is used in conjunction with phase measurements from a signal transmitted by the access point to determine the location of such access point.

Claims

1. A method of determining a location of an access point in a wireless communication network, comprising:

receiving a signal transmitted by a access point;

determining a phase of the signal at each of a plurality of locations; and

determining a location of the access point based on the determined phases.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the phase determination comprises:

determining a distance from each of the plurality of locations to the access point based on the determined phase.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal transmitted by the access point is a pilot signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the phase determination comprises:

determining a variation associated with a Pseudo Noise (PN) code assigned to the access point.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the location of the access point further comprises using Global Position Network (GPS) information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of locations are known locations derived from measurements associated with satellites.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of locations are known locations derived from inertial navigation information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by at least one of an access terminal, a laptop computer and a PDA.

9. An apparatus for determining a location of an access point in a wireless communication network comprising:

a receiver adapted to receive a signal transmitted by a access point;

a phase determining module adapted to determine a phase of the signal at each of a plurality of locations; and

a location determining module adapted to determine a location of the access point based on the determined phases.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the phase determining module is further adapted to determine a distance from each of the plurality of locations to the access point based on the determined phase.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the signal transmitted by the access point is a pilot signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the phase determining module is further adapted to determine a variation associated with a Pseudo Noise (PN) code assigned to the access point.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the receiver receives GPS information; and

the location module configured to determine the location of the access point based on the GPS information.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of locations are known locations derived from measurements associated with satellites.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of locations are known locations derived from inertial navigation information.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of an access terminal, a laptop computer and a PDA.

17. An apparatus for determining a location of an access point in a wireless communication network comprising:

means for receiving a signal transmitted by a access point;

means for determining a phase of the signal at each of a plurality of locations; and

means for determining the location of the access point based on the determined phases.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the phase determining means further determines a distance from each of the plurality of locations to the access point based on the determined phase.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the signal received by the receiving means is a pilot signal.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the phase determining means further determines a variation associated with a Pseudo Noise (PN) code assigned to the access point

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

the receiving means receives GPS information; and

the location determining means determines the location of the access point based on the GPS information.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the plurality of locations are known locations derived from measurements associated with satellites.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of locations are known locations derived from inertial navigation information.

24. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of an access terminal, a laptop computer and a PDA.

25. A computer program product for determining a location of an access point associated with a wireless communication network comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising codes executable by at least one computer to;

receive a signal transmitted by a access point;

determine a phase of the signal received at each of a plurality of locations; and

determine the location of the access point based on the determined phase of the signal received.

26. A access terminal for determining a location of an access point associated with a wireless communication network comprising:

a receiver adapted to receive a signal transmitted by a access point;

a phase determining module adapted to determine a phase of the signal at each of a plurality of locations;

a location determining module adapted to determine a location of the access point based on the determined phases; and

a user interface adapted to display the determined location of the access point associated with the wireless communication network.