SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOCATING AN UNKNOWN BASE STATION

• US 20090131075A1
• Filed: 10/14/2008
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommScope Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CommScope Inc. (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Islam, Tariqul, Mazlum, Selcuk
• Granted Patent: US 8,112,096 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 an unknown Node B in a wireless communication system having a plurality of other nodes and a plurality of location measurement units. 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 from a user equipment (“UE”). An observed time difference of arrival (“OTDOA”) hyperbola may then be calculated based on the first and second values, and a location of the unknown Node B as a function of the OTDOA hyperbola. Therefore, through the combination of a UE network measurement report characteristic and a downlink timing measurement from a location measurement unit, the location of an unknown Node B may be determined.

Claims

1. In a method for estimating a location of an unknown Node B in a wireless communications system having a plurality of known nodes, the method comprising determining an observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) hyperbola based on signals received from said unknown Node B and one of said known nodes, the improvement comprising determining the OTDOA hyperbola using information received from a user equipment network measurement report, the user equipment being at any known location.

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, frame offset value, symbol offset value and sample offset value.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said improved determining of the OTDOA hyperbola includes using a second value determined from a frame offset from one of said plurality of other 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 improved determining of the OTDOA hyperbola includes using a second value determined from a difference between a network timing characteristic of a serving or neighboring node and a network timing characteristic of said unknown Node B.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said improved determining of the OTDOA hyperbola includes using a second value determined from a difference between a network timing characteristic of a serving node and a network timing characteristic of said unknown Node B and from a difference between a network timing characteristic of a neighboring node and a network timing characteristic of said unknown Node B.

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. The method of claim 1 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, WiFi network, and Code Division Multiple Access (“

CDMA”

) network, and Long Term Evolution (“

LTE”

) network.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said system operates under a standard selected from the group consisting of:

IS-95, Evolution-Data Optimized (“

EDVO”

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

1×

RTT”

).

11. A method for estimating a location of an unknown Node B in a wireless communication system having a plurality of other nodes and a plurality of location measurement units (“

LMU”

), the method comprising;

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

(b) determining a second value based on a first network timing characteristic;

(c) determining a third value based on a second network timing characteristic;

(d) determining a fourth value based on a third network timing characteristic;

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

OTDOA”

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

(f) estimating a location of said unknown Node B as a function of said OTDOA hyperbola.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said network measurement report characteristic is a time offset between a first node and said unknown Node B.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said first node is a serving or neighboring node.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said time offset is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset, frame offset, symbol offset and sample offset.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a first OTDOA hyperbola based on said first and second values;

(ii) calculating a second OTDOA hyperbola based on said second and third values; and

(iii) calculating a third OTDOA hyperbola based on said third and fourth values.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein at least one of said first, second and third network timing characteristics is a time offset.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said time offset is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset, frame offset, symbol offset and sample offset.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein said first network timing characteristic is a time offset between a first node and said unknown Node B measured by a first LMU.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein said second network timing characteristic is a time offset between a first node and said unknown Node B measured by a second LMU.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein said third network timing characteristic is a time offset between a first node and said unknown Node B measured by a third LMU.

21. The method of claim 11 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

22. The method of claim 11 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.

23. The method of claim 22 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”

).

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the estimating of the location of said unknown Node B 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.

25. A method for estimating a location of an unknown Node B in a wireless communication system having a plurality of other nodes and a plurality of location measurement units (“

LMU”

), the method comprising;

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

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

(c) determining a third value based on a first network timing characteristic;

(d) determining a fourth value based on a second network timing characteristic;

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

OTDOA”

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

(f) estimating a location of said unknown Node B as a function of said OTDOA hyperbola.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein said first network measurement report characteristic is a first time offset between a serving node serving a wireless device and said unknown Node B and said second network measurement report characteristic is a second time offset between a neighboring node and said unknown Node B.

27. The method of claim 26 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.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein at least one of said first or second time offsets is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset, frame offset, symbol offset and sample offset.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a first OTDOA hyperbola based on said first and second values;

(ii) calculating a second OTDOA hyperbola based on said second and third values; and

(iii) calculating a third OTDOA hyperbola based on said third and fourth values.

30. The method of claim 25 wherein said at least one of said first and second network timing characteristics is a time offset.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein said time offset is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset, frame offset, symbol offset and sample offset.

32. The method of claim 25 wherein said first network timing characteristic is a time offset between a serving node serving a wireless device and said unknown Node B measured by a first LMU.

33. The method of claim 25 wherein said second network timing characteristic is a time offset between a neighboring node and said unknown Node B measured by a second LMU.

34. The method of claim 25 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

35. The method of claim 25 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.

36. The method of claim 35 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”

).

37. The method of claim 25 wherein the estimating of the location of said unknown Node B 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.

38. A method for estimating a location of an unknown Node B in a wireless communication system having a plurality of other nodes and a plurality of location measurement units (“

LMU”

), the method comprising;

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

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

(c) determining a third value based on a third network measurement report characteristic;

(d) determining a fourth value based on a network timing characteristic;

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

OTDOA”

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

(f) estimating a location of said unknown Node B as a function of said OTDOA hyperbola.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein said first network measurement report characteristic is a first time offset between a serving or neighboring node and said unknown Node B, said second network measurement report characteristic is a second time offset between said serving or neighboring node and said unknown Node B, and said third network measurement report characteristic is a third time offset between said serving or neighboring node and said unknown Node B.

40. The method of claim 39 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.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein at least one of said first, second or third time offsets is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset, frame offset, symbol offset and sample offset.

42. The method of claim 38 wherein calculating said OTDOA hyperbola includes:

(i) calculating a first OTDOA hyperbola based on said first and second values;

(ii) calculating a second OTDOA hyperbola based on said second and third values; and

(iii) calculating a third OTDOA hyperbola based on said third and fourth values.

43. The method of claim 38 wherein said network timing characteristic is a time offset.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein said time offset is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset, frame offset, symbol offset and sample offset.

45. The method of claim 38 wherein said network timing characteristic is a time offset between a serving node serving a wireless device and said unknown Node B measured by an LMU.

46. The method of claim 38 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

47. The method of claim 38 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.

48. The method of claim 47 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”

).

49. The method of claim 38 wherein the estimating of the location of said unknown Node B 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.

50. A system for estimating a location of an unknown Node B in a wireless communication system having a plurality of other nodes and a plurality of location measurement units (“

LMU”

), the system comprising;

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

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

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

OTDOA”

) hyperbola based on said first and second values; and

(d) circuitry for estimating a location of said unknown Node B as a function of said OTDOA hyperbola.

51. The system of claim 50 wherein said nodes are selected from the group consisting of:

base stations, base station sectors, and combinations thereof.

52. The system of claim 50 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.

53. The system of claim 52 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”

).

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

55. The system of claim 54 wherein said frame offset is a system frame number (“

SFN”

).

56. The system of claim 50 wherein said network measurement report characteristic is a time offset value.

57. The system of claim 56 wherein said time offset value is selected from the group consisting of:

chip offset value and sample offset value.

58. The system of claim 50 wherein said nodes are not synchronized.

59. The system of claim 50 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information received from a satellite signal.

60. The system of claim 50 wherein said nodes are synchronized as a function of information transmitted from a component of said system.

61. The system of claim 50 including a network synchronization unit.

62. A method for estimating a location of an unknown Node B in a wireless communication system having a plurality of other nodes and a plurality of location measurement units (“

LMU”

), the method comprising;

(a) determining a first value based on a first network timing characteristic of the unknown Node B at a first LMU;

(b) determining a second value based on a second network timing characteristic of the unknown Node B at a second LMU;

(c) calculating one or more observed time difference of arrival (“

OTDOA”

) hyperbolas based on at least the first and second values;

(d) determining a third value based on a third network timing characteristic of a known Node B at one of said first or second LMUs;

(e) determining a first timing offset value between the known and unknown Node Bs as a function of ones of the first, second and third values;

(f) determining a second timing offset value between the known and unknown Node Bs using a user equipment (“

UE”

) network measurement report;

(g) determining a propagation delay from the known Node B to the LMU or UE as a function of the timing offset values;

(h) calculating one or more OTDOA hyperbolas based on ones of the first timing offset value, second timing offset value, third value, and propagation delay; and

(g) estimating a location of the unknown. Node B as a function of said OTDOA hyperbolas.