POSITION DETERMINATION APPARATUS AND METHOD

• US 20100268465A1
• Filed: 04/19/2010
• Published: 10/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Hegde, Rajeev M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,433,509 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/216
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/45 by combining measurements of signals from the satellite radio beacon positioning system with a supplementary measurement
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method of determining a location of a User Equipment (UE) is provided. The method includes generating, by the UE, a database of location data for a plurality of locations; receiving at least one navigation signal at a particular area; determining an identity of a cell in which the UE is currently located at the particular area; and determining the location of the UE at the particular area using the at least one navigation signal, the identity of the current cell, and at least a portion of the data stored in the database.

Claims

1. A method of determining a location of a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:

generating, by the UE, a database of location data for a plurality of locations by;

performing a location determination for each of the plurality of locations, the location determination being made from a plurality of navigation signals received by the UE at each of the plurality of locations;

determining an identity of a respective cell of a cellular communication system in which the UE is located at each of the plurality of locations; and

storing data indicating each of the plurality of locations and the respective cell identity for each of the plurality of locations;

receiving at least one navigation signal at a particular area;

determining an identity of a cell in which the UE is currently located at the particular area; and

determining the location of the UE at the particular area using the at least one navigation signal, the identity of the current cell, and at least a portion of the data stored in the database.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein generating the database further comprises:

determining a level of difficulty for each location determination according to at least one predetermined criterion; and

storing the data indicating a location and respective cell identity corresponding to each location determination, only when the level of difficulty is greater than the at least one predetermined criterion.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the level of difficulty for each location determination comprises determining a time required for each location determination.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the level of difficulty for each location determination further comprises determining whether the time required for each location determination is greater than a predetermined length of time.

5. A method of determining a location of a User Equipment (UE), the method comprising:

receiving, by the UE, a plurality of navigation signals and information for a cell of a communication system in which the UE is located at a first location;

calculating a range of locations for the UE from the received navigation signals;

identifying a previously visited location from visited locations stored in the UE as an estimate of the first location, the previously visited location being located within a predetermined distance from the range of locations; and

displaying the estimate of the first location to a user.

6. The method in accordance with claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a plurality of navigation signals at a second location;

determining the second location from the received plurality of navigation signals;

comparing a length of time taken to determine the second location with a predetermined length of time; and

storing the second position as a visited location in the UE according to the comparison result.

7. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein identifying the previously visited location is performed based on a distance between each visited location and the range of locations and a number of times the UE has made a location determination at or within a predetermined distance from said each visited location.

8. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein calculating the range of the locations for the UE comprises:

calculating a length of time taken for each navigation signal from a corresponding one of space vehicles to reach the UE;

obtaining virtual spheres, which are centered on the space vehicles, respectively; and

determining at least part of a line of intersection of the virtual spheres on the Earth'"'"'s surface as the range of locations for the UE.

9. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein calculating the range of the locations for the UE comprises:

calculating a length of time taken for each navigation signal from a corresponding one of space vehicles to reach the UE;

calculating distances from each of the space vehicles to the UE based on said length of time; and

determining the range of locations for the UE on the Earth'"'"'s surface based on the distances.

10. A User Equipment (UE) comprising:

a satellite communication module for receiving a plurality of navigation signals;

a cellular network module for receiving information for a cell of a cellular communication network in which the UE is located;

a memory for storing data; and

a controller that calculates a range of locations for the UE from the received navigation signals, identifies a previously visited location from visited locations stored in the UE as an estimate of the first location, and displays the estimate of the first location to a user,

wherein the previously visited location is located at or within a predetermined distance from the range of locations.