METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR LOCATION ESTIMATION

• US 20110164690A1
• Filed: 07/02/2010
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Maxlinear Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Maxlinear Incorporated
• Inventors: Ling, Curtis, Ramesh, Sridhar
• Application Number:
  US12/830,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20110164690A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/259
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/06 using intensity measurements
• 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: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial

Abstract

A receiver system and method for determining the location of a device in a wireless network having a plurality of transmitters is provided. The method includes receiving a signal at the device, transforming the received signal into a time-domain signal having a characteristic, and computing a range of the device from each of the plurality of transmitters based on the characteristic. Additionally, the method includes determining the location of the device based on the computed ranges. In certain embodiments, the characteristic may be a time of arrival, time difference of arrival, or a signal strength, and the wireless network is a DTV broadcasting network.

Claims

1. A method for determining a location of a device in a wireless network having a plurality of transmitters, the method comprising:

receiving a signal at the device;

transforming the received signal into a time-based signal having a characteristic;

computing a range of the device to each of the plurality of transmitters based on the characteristic; and

determining the location of the device based on the computed ranges.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless network is a digital TV (DTV) broadcasting network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the DTV broadcasting network is a single frequency network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the received signal comprises pilot tones.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is a time of arrival.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is a time difference of arrival.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transforming the received signal comprises an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the time-domain signal is a channel impulse response.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the location comprises trilateration.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmitters comprise DTV broadcast towers.

11. A receiver system for determining a location of a device in a wireless network having a plurality of transmitters, the apparatus comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) receiving circuit configured to receive a signal;

a signal processing circuit configured to transform the received signal into a time domain signal having a characteristic;

a range computing circuit configured to compute a range of the device to each of the plurality of transmitters and to determine the location of the device based on the computed ranges.

12. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the RF receiving circuit is coupled to one or more antennas.

13. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the wireless network is a digital TV (DTV) broadcasting network.

14. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the received signal comprises pilot tones.

15. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the signal processing circuit comprises an inverse Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) operator.

16. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the time domain signal is a channel impulse response.

17. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the characteristic is a time of arrival.

18. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the characteristic is a time difference of arrival.

19. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the determining the location comprises trilateration.

20. The receiver system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of transmitters comprise DTV broadcast towers.