Method and Apparatus for use of Performance History Data in Positioning Method Selection

• US 20110244879A1
• Filed: 06/21/2010
• Published: 10/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Wigren, Torbjörn, Siomina, Iana
• Granted Patent: US 9,026,094 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 selecting the positioning method(s) used to respond to given positioning requests uses historical performance data reflecting the actual performance yielded by one or more of the positioning methods that are generally available for selection. As a non-limiting example, a positioning node maintains or otherwise has access to historical data reflecting the QoS obtained for at least some of the positioning methods supported by the node. Correspondingly, the node compares the QoS requirements associated with an incoming positioning request to the historical performance data, to identify the positioning method(s) that appear to best satisfy the requirements. The positioning node therefore selects the “best” method(s) for responding to a positioning request, not based on “generic” performance characteristics of those methods, but rather based on observed real-world performance of those methods, as applicable to the particular operating environment (radio environment) in which the positioning methods are carried out.

Claims

1. A method in a positioning node of a communication network, the method comprising:

receiving a positioning request at the positioning node; and

selecting one or more positioning methods for use in responding to the positioning request, based on comparing positioning performance requirements associated with the positioning request with historical positioning performance data maintained for positioning methods supported by the positioning node.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining the historical positioning performance data at the positioning node based on tracking actual positioning results obtained by the positioning node, in performing given ones of the supported positioning methods.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said tracking comprises maintaining historical values for at least one of horizontal accuracy, vertical accuracy, positioning response time, and availability, for individual ones of the supported positioning methods, or for combinations of the supported positioning methods.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising maintaining different sets for said historical values, corresponding to one or more of the following:

different carriers, in the case of multi-carrier operation;

different user equipment speeds or ranges of speed;

different radio environment types;

different radio-access-technologies or RATs, in the case that different positioning requests received at the positioning node may be associated with different RATs; and

different times-of-day.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said tracking comprises maintaining histogram information according to actual positioning results obtained over time at the positioning node, for individual ones of the positioning methods, or for combinations of them, said actual positioning results including one or more of horizontal accuracy, vertical accuracy, response time, and availability.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said comparing comprises calculating one or more positioning Quality-of-Service (QoS) values at specified confidence levels, based on the histogram information, and comparing the one or more calculated positioning QoS values with the positioning performance requirements, and correspondingly determining which positioning method or combination of methods best satisfies the positioning performance requirements.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting includes biasing positioning method selection in favor of those positioning methods having historically higher availability, based on historic availability information, as included in said historical positioning performance data, or, includes excluding from consideration those positioning methods having historical availabilities that are below a given threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising beginning with a default or starting set of performance data for the supported positioning methods, and revising that data over time according to actual positioning performance obtained from performing the positioning methods over time at the node, to thereby obtain the historical positioning performance data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the positioning node is configured for operation within a control-plane of the communication network, or is configured for operation within a user-plane of the communication network, and wherein the method further comprises receiving the default or starting set of performance data at the positioning node, from another node in the same plane as the positioning node.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the positioning node is configured for operation within a control-plane of the communication network, or is configured for operation within a user-plane of the communication network, and wherein the method further comprises receiving the default or starting set of performance data at the positioning node from another node not in the same plane as the positioning node, such that the default or starting set of performance data is exchanged between nodes in the control and user planes.

11. A positioning node of a communication network comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive positioning requests and to return positioning responses; and

one or more processing circuits configured to select one or more positioning methods for use in responding to the positioning request, based on comparing positioning performance requirements associated with the positioning request with historical positioning performance data maintained for positioning methods supported by the positioning node.

12. The positioning node of claim 11, wherein the one or more processing circuits includes a tracking circuit configured to maintain the historical positioning performance data at the positioning node based on tracking actual positioning results obtained by the positioning node, in performing given ones of the supported positioning methods.

13. The positioning node of claim 12, wherein said tracking circuit is configured maintain historical values for at least one of horizontal accuracy, vertical accuracy, positioning response time, and availability, for individual ones of the supported positioning methods, or for combinations of the supported positioning methods.

14. The positioning node of claim 13, wherein the one or more processing circuits are configured to maintain different sets for said historical values, corresponding to one or more of the following:

different carriers, in the case of multi-carrier operation;

different user equipment speeds or ranges of speeds;

different radio environment types;

different radio-access-technologies or RATs, in the case that different positioning requests received at the positioning node may be associated with different RATs; and

different times-of-day.

15. The positioning node of claim 12, wherein said tracking circuit is configured to maintain histogram information according to actual positioning results obtained over time at the positioning node, for individual ones of the positioning methods, or for combinations of them, said actual positioning results including one or more of horizontal accuracy, vertical accuracy, response time, and availability.

16. The positioning node of claim 15, wherein said one or more processing circuits are configured to calculate one or more positioning Quality-of-Service (QoS) values at specified confidence levels, based on the histogram information, and comparing the one or more calculated positioning QoS values with the positioning performance requirements, and correspondingly determining which positioning method or combination of methods best satisfies the positioning performance requirements.

17. The positioning node of claim 11, wherein said one or more processing circuits are configured to biasing positioning method selection in favor of those positioning methods having historically higher availability, based on historic availability information, as included in said historical positioning performance data, or to exclude from consideration those positioning methods having historical availabilities that are below a given threshold.

18. The positioning node of claim 11, wherein the positioning node is configured to begin with a default or starting set of performance data for the positioning methods, and revise that data over time according to actual positioning performance obtained from performing the positioning methods over time at the node, to thereby obtain the historical positioning performance data.

19. The positioning of claim 18, wherein the positioning node is configured for operation within a control-plane of the communication network, or is configured for operation within a user-plane of the communication network, and wherein the positioning node includes a communication interface configured for receiving the default or starting set of performance data at the positioning node, from another node in the same plane as the positioning node.

20. The positioning node of claim 18, wherein the positioning node is configured for operation within a control-plane of the communication network, or is configured for operation within a user-plane of the communication network, and wherein the positioning node further comprises a communication interface configured for receiving the default or starting set of performance data at the positioning node from another node not in the same plane as the positioning node, such that the default or starting set of performance data is exchanged between nodes in the control and user planes.