GPS WITH AIDING FROM AD-HOC PEER-TO-PEER BLUETOOTH NETWORKS

• US 20110163914A1
• Filed: 12/31/2009
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CSR Technology Holdings Inc. (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CSR Technology Holdings Inc. (Qualcomm, Inc.)
• Inventors: SEYMOUR, Leslie
• Granted Patent: US 8,884,817 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/357.42
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/06 employing an initial estimate of the location of the receiver as aiding data or in generating aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/258 relating to the satellite constellation, e.g. almanac, ephemeris data, lists of satellites in view
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems

Abstract

The present invention is related to location positioning systems, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing an update of ephemeris information. According to one aspect, GPS enabled devices in the signal unavailable area monitors the state of its ephemeris data and time information. When the ephemeris data and time information become out of date, the GPS enable device uses an ad hoc Bluetooth network to retrieve ephemeris data and time information from another GPS enabled device with more current data. According to further aspects, a map of a deep hole region in which GPS and other cellular signals are not available, is generated to enable power reduction and cost saving measures.

Claims

1. A method for updating location data of a mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled device comprising:

establishing a connection with at least one other mobile GPS enabled device, via a short range wireless network, based on an age of location data for the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device; and

receiving the location data from the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the short range wireless network is an ad hoc Bluetooth network.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the location data includes ephemeris data.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the location data includes time sync data.

5. A method according to claim 1, further including:

comparing an age of location data for the mobile GPS enabled device and the age of location data for the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device; and

receiving the location data from the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device when the age of the location data for the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device is less than the age of the location data for the mobile GPS enabled device.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the location data is received only when a difference between the age of the location data for the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device and the age of the location data for the mobile GPS enabled device is above a predetermined threshold value.

7. A method according to claim 1, further including detecting a signal strength for a mobile GPS enabled device.

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the connection is established with the at least one other mobile GPS enabled device when the signal strength for the mobile GPS enabled device is below a predetermined threshold value.

9. A method according to claim 7, wherein the signal is a GNSS signal.

10. A method according to claim 7, wherein the signal is a cellular signal.

11. A method according to claim 7, wherein the signal is a Wi-Fi signal.

12. A method for generating a deep hole map comprising:

detecting a signal strength of at least one mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) device;

comparing the detected signal strength of the at least one mobile GPS device to a predetermined signal strength threshold value;

determining a last known position for the at least one mobile GPS device when the signal strength of at least one mobile GPS device is below the predetermined signal strength threshold value;

determining a first fix position for the at least one mobile GPS device when the detected signal strength returns to a value above the predetermined threshold value; and

transmitting the last known position and the first fix position to a crowd-sourcing server for use in generating the deep hole map.

13. A method of refreshing navigational data comprising:

generating a deep hole map;

determining a position of a mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) device;

determining a proximity to a deep hole based on the determined position of the mobile GPS device and the generated deep hole map;

comparing the determined deep hole proximity to a proximity threshold; and

refreshing the navigational data when the mobile GPS device is less than or equal to the to the proximity threshold value.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the navigational data includes ephemeris data.

15. A method according to claim 13, wherein the navigational data includes time sync data.