SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCATING UMTS USER EQUIPMENT USING MEASUREMENT REPORTS

• US 20090131073A1
• Filed: 04/16/2008
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Andrew Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: MAZLUM, Selcuk, CARLSON, John, ISLAM, Tariqul
• Granted Patent: US 8,447,319 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0205 Details
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/10 Position of receiver fixed by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements , e.g. omega or decca systemsG01S5/12 takes precedence ; beacons and receivers cooperating therewith G01S1/306, G01S1/308
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• 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 84/04 Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks

Abstract

A system and method for estimating a location of a wireless device receiving signals from a plurality of nodes of a communication system. A first value may be determined based on a network timing characteristic for one of the nodes, and a second value may be determined based on a network measurement report characteristic. An observed time difference of arrival (“OTDOA”) hyperbola may then be calculated based on the first and second values, and a location of the wireless device estimated as a function of the OTDOA hyperbola.

Claims

1. In a method for estimating a location of a wireless device comprising determining an observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) based solely on signals received from plural nodes, the improvement comprising determining the OTDOA using information received from a network measurement report.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said information comprises a first value determined from a time offset value.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said time offset value is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset value and sample offset value.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said improved determining of the OTDOA includes using a second value determined from a frame offset from one of said nodes.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said frame offset is a system frame number (“

SFN”

).

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said plural nodes include a serving node and a neighboring node and wherein said improved determining of the OTDOA includes using a second value determined from a difference between a connection frame number (“

CFN”

) of said serving node and a system frame number (“

SFN”

) of said neighboring node.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said plural nodes include a serving node, a first neighboring node, and a second neighboring node, and wherein said improved determining of the OTDOA includes using a second value determined from a difference between a system frame number (“

SFN”

) of said first neighboring node and a SFN of said second neighboring node.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

9. In a method for estimating a location of a wireless device comprising determining an observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) based solely on signals received from plural nodes and from signals received from a satellite navigation system, the improvement comprising determining the OTDOA using information received from a network measurement report.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein said satellite navigation system is selected from the group consisting of:

Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

), Galileo, Global Satellite Navigation System (“

GLONASS”

), and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (“

QZSS”

).

12. A method for estimating a location of a wireless device receiving signals from a plurality of nodes of a communication system, the method comprising:

(a) determining a first value based on a network timing characteristic for one of said nodes;

(b) determining a second value based on a network measurement report characteristic;

(c) calculating an observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) hyperbola based on said first and second values; and

(d) estimating a location of said wireless device as a function of said OTDOA hyperbola.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said wireless device is selected from the group consisting of:

cellular device, text messaging device, computer, portable computer, vehicle locating device, vehicle security device, communication device, and wireless transceiver.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein said communication system is selected from the group consisting of:

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“

UMTS”

) network, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“

WiMax”

) network, Global System for Mobile Communications (“

GSM”

) network, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (“

OFDMA”

) network, WiFi network, and Code Division Multiple Access (“

CDMA”

) network.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said system operates under a standard selected from the group consisting of:

IS-95, Evolution-Data Optimized (“

EDVO”

), CDMA2000, Long Term Evolution (“

LTE”

) and 1 times Radio Transmission Technology (“

1×

RTT”

).

17. The method of claim 12 wherein said network timing characteristic is a frame offset.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said frame offset is a system frame number (“

SFN”

).

19. The method of claim 12 wherein said network measurement report characteristic is a time offset value.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said time offset value is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset value and sample offset value.

21. The method of claim 12 wherein the estimating of the location of said wireless device includes determining a third value selected from the group consisting of:

a round trip time (“

RTT”

) value, a cell identification value, a signal strength value, and combinations thereof.

22. The method of claim 12 wherein said nodes are not synchronized.

23. The method of claim 12 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information received from a satellite signal.

24. The method of claim 12 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information transmitted from a component of said system.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said component is a network synchronization unit (“

NSU”

).

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said NSU directly estimates the network measurement report characteristic.

27. A method for estimating a location of a wireless device receiving signals from a serving node, a first neighboring node, and a second neighboring node, where each node is a node of a communication system, the method comprising:

(a) determining a first value based on a first network timing characteristic for said first neighboring node;

(b) determining a second value based on a second network timing characteristic for said second neighboring node;

(c) determining a third value based on a third network timing characteristic for said serving node;

(d) determining a fourth value based on a first network measurement report characteristic;

(e) determining a fifth value based on a second network measurement report characteristic;

(f) calculating an observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) hyperbola based on at least one of said first, second, third, fourth, or fifth value; and

(g) estimating a location of said wireless device as a function of said OTDOA hyperbola.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a difference between said first and second values.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a difference between said first and third values.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a difference between said fourth and fifth values.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a first OTDOA hyperbola based on at least one of said first or second values, and at least on one of said fourth or fifth values, and

(ii) calculating a second OTDOA hyperbola based on at least one of said first or third values, and on said fourth value.

32. The method of claim 27 wherein said first network timing characteristic is a system frame number (“

SFN”

), said second network timing characteristic is a SFN, and said third network timing characteristic is a connection frame number (“

CFN”

).

33. The method of claim 27 wherein said first network measurement report characteristic is a time offset between said serving node and said first neighboring node and said second network measurement report characteristic is a time offset between said serving node and said second neighboring node.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein said time offset is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset and sample offset.

35. The method of claim 27 wherein said wireless device is selected from the group consisting of:

cellular device, text messaging device, computer, portable computer, vehicle locating device, vehicle security device, communication device, and wireless transceiver.

36. The method of claim 27 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

37. The method of claim 27 wherein said communication system is selected from the group consisting of:

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“

UMTS”

) network, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“

WiMax”

) network, Global System for Mobile Communications (“

GSM”

) network, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (“

OFDMA”

) network, WiFi network, and Code Division Multiple Access (“

CDMA”

) network.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said system operates under a standard selected from the group consisting of:

IS-95, Long Term Evolution (“

LTE”

), Evolution-Data Optimized (“

EDVO”

), CDMA2000, and 1 times Radio Transmission Technology (“

1×

RTT”

).

39. The method of claim 27 wherein the estimating of the location of said wireless device includes determining another value selected from the group consisting of:

a round trip time (“

RTT”

) value, a cell identification value, a signal strength value, and combinations thereof.

40. The method of claim 27 wherein said nodes are not synchronized.

41. The method of claim 27 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information received from a satellite signal.

42. The method of claim 27 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information transmitted from a component of said system.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein said component is a network synchronization unit.

44. A system for estimating a location of a wireless device receiving signals from a plurality of nodes of a communication system, comprising:

circuitry for determining a first value based on a network timing characteristic for one of said nodes;

circuitry for determining a second value based on a network measurement report characteristic;

circuitry for calculating an observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) hyperbola based on said first and second values; and

circuitry for estimating a location of said wireless device as a function of said OTDOA.

45. The system of claim 44 including a network synchronization unit.

46. The system of claim 44 wherein said wireless device is selected from the group consisting of:

cellular device, text messaging device, computer, portable computer, vehicle locating device, vehicle security device, communication device, and wireless transceiver.

47. The system of claim 44 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

48. The system of claim 44 wherein said communication system is selected from the group consisting of:

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“

UMTS”

) network, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“

WiMax”

) network, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (“

OFDMA”

), Global System for Mobile Communications (“

GSM”

) network, WiFi network, and Code Division Multiple Access (“

CDMA”

) network.

49. The system of claim 48 wherein said system operates under a standard selected from the group consisting of:

IS-95, Long Term Evolution (“

LTE”

), Evolution-Data Optimized (“

EDVO”

), CDMA2000, and 1 times Radio Transmission Technology (“

1×

RTT”

).

50. The system of claim 44 wherein said network timing characteristic is a frame offset.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein said frame offset is a system frame number (“

SFN”

).

52. The system of claim 44 wherein said network measurement report characteristic is a time offset value.

53. The system of claim 52 wherein said time offset value is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset value, sample offset value.

54. The system of claim 44 wherein said nodes are not synchronized.

55. The system of claim 44 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information received from a satellite signal.

56. The system of claim 44 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information transmitted from a component of said system.