Methods and Systems for Enabling User Activity-Aware Positioning

• US 20130190006A1
• Filed: 01/20/2012
• Published: 07/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Kazmi, Muhammad, Siomina, Iana
• Application Number:
  US13/497,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20130190006A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]

Abstract

Techniques for using user equipment, UE, activity information, e.g., by a network node in a communications network are described. The network node can obtain the UE activity information, i.e., information associated with at least one of transmission activity and reception activity for a UE, and then use the UE activity information to configure a positioning function. Some examples of the positioning function are positioning method selection, measurement configuration and assistance data provisioning, reserving positioning resources, stopping the positioning session, delaying handover of the UE, deciding on a position session organization such as number of parallel measurements to be performed, and estimating an impact on battery lifetime.

Claims

1. A method for using user equipment, UE, activity information by a network node in a communications network, the method comprising:

obtaining the UE activity information, wherein the UE activity information indicates a pattern of at least one of transmission activity and reception activity for a UE, and

using the obtained UE activity information to perform at least one of;

estimating at least one of an expected response time and a positioning quality associated with each of a plurality of positioning methods that can be selected for determining a position of the UE;

selecting a positioning method to determine a position for the UE;

adaptive enhanced cell identification, AECID, and

fingerprinting positioning of the UE.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the UE activity information further comprises:

autonomously determining, by the network node, the UE activity information based on information available in the communications network.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

receiving, as said information, measurement reports from which the UE activity information can be determined, which measurement reports may be periodic or event-triggered, wherein a reporting interval associated with the measurement reports is used to determine the UE activity information.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

maintaining, by the network node, predetermined information associated with expected UE reporting rates in different activity states; and

determining the UE activity information for the UE by comparing a UE reporting rate and the predetermined information associated with expected UE reporting rates for different activity states to select one of the different activity states as the UE activity information.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

collecting measurement statistics for the UE; and

determining the UE activity information by comparing the measurement statistics for the UE with a reporting frequency of the UE at different time intervals.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

collecting measurement statistics and positioning results for a plurality of UEs; and

determining the UE activity information based on both the collected measurement statistics and positioning results for the plurality of UEs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the UE activity information further comprises:

receiving the UE activity information from at least one of the UE and another network node.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the another network node is one of:

a positioning node;

a network node which has positioning functionality;

a positioning platform in a user plane such as a secure user plane location, SUPL, a location platform, SLP, in a long term evolution, LTE, network;

a positioning node in a control plane such as an enhanced serving mobile location center, E-SMLC, in an LTE network; and

a radio network node such as an eNode B or a radio measurement unit; and

a network node such as SON or MDT.

9. The method of claim 1 above wherein the network node is a positioning node such as an E-SMLC in LTE.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE activity information includes one or more of:

a discontinuous reception, DRX, and/or discontinuous transmission DTX indication;

a DRX and/or DTX configuration;

a type of duplex mode of operation;

an uplink, UL, and/or downlink, DL, and special subframe configurations for time division duplex operation;

minimum UL and DL subframes in a frame for half duplex frequency division duplex operation;

a restricted measurement configuration;

a UE transmitting/receiving pattern over multiple carriers in a multi-carrier system;

a pattern describing periodicity and/or allocations of UE transmission and/or receiving activity;

a portion of time spent by the UE in an activity or inactivity state(s) during a positioning session; and

a measurement cycle used for performing measurement on secondary cells in carrier aggregation.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE activity information indicates at least one mode of transmit and/or receive operation which governs UE'"'"'s usage of transmit and/or receive air interface resources.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

estimating an expected response time of at least one of a plurality of positioning methods in order to determine a respective length of a positioning session for the UE using each of the plurality of positioning methods.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the estimated length of the positioning session is used by the network node to perform at least one of:

reserving positioning resources, stopping the positioning session, delaying handover of the UE, deciding on a position session organization such as number of parallel measurements to be performed, and estimating an impact on battery lifetime.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

estimating at least one of positioning measurement quality characteristic and position quality of at least one from a plurality of positioning methods.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

comparing the at least one of the estimated positioning measurement quality characteristic and position quality for the at least one of the plurality of positioning methods; and

selecting one of the plurality of positioning methods for use in determining a position of the UE based on the comparing.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

selecting a positioning method using the obtained UE activity information by determining at least one of;

(a) measurement quality characteristic, (b) position quality of the positioning method, and (c) positioning response time of the positioning method.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of determining further comprises estimating the at least one of:

(a) measurement quality characteristic, (b) position quality of the positioning method, and (c) positioning response time of the positioning method for a given UE based on collected statistics.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining, when discontinuous reception, DRX, is used for the UE, a measurement delay based on a length of a DRX cycle for both observed time difference of arrival, OTDOA, and enhanced cell identification, E-CID, positioning methods; and

selecting one of OTDOA and E-CID which has at least one of (a) a smaller measurement delay, (b) a smaller positioning response time of the positioning method, (c) better positioning measurement quality, and (d) better position quality to use to perform positioning for the UE

19. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

using the obtained UE activity information for at least one of enhanced cell identification (E-CID), adaptive enhanced cell identification, AECID, fingerprinting positioning of the UE, OTDOA, UTDOA or an uplink positioning method.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

tagging measurements taken for the at least one of enhanced cell identification (E-CID), adaptive enhanced cell identification, AECID, fingerprinting of the UE, OTDOA, UTDOA or an uplink positioning method with the UE activity information.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

excluding, or using with a lower weight, tagged measurements associated with a higher UE inactivity for a positioning function that requires positioning accuracy above a certain threshold accuracy.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

configuring the network node with at least one predetermined positioning method for the network node; and

selecting the at least one predetermined positioning method for the network node based upon the obtained UE activity information.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one predetermined positioning method for the network node is a prioritized sequence of positioning methods for the network node to use based on an activity state of the UE.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

using the obtained UE activity information to determine the amount of time required (Δ

t) by the UE for acquiring reference cell timing; and

sending OTDOA assistance data at least At duration prior to a time when a UE can start performing RSTD measurements of the requested cells.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of sending OTDOA assistance data further comprises:

sending the OTDOA assistance data at least Δ

t+T₀ duration prior to the time when the UE is able to complete the RSTD measurements of the requested cells;

wherein T0 is the time required by the UE to measure RSTD of cells when reference cell timing is known.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the duration (Δ

t) comprises at least a time required by the UE to search or identify a reference cell.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the duration (Δ

t) further comprises a time required by the UE to read system information of a reference cell for acquiring the system frame number.

28. The method of claim 24 wherein the UE activity information is a DRX cycle used by the UE.

29. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

wherein the network node is a test equipment or a system simulator emulating a positioning node.

30. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

wherein the network node is a positioning node such as E-SMLC in LTE

31. The method of claim 1, wherein using the obtained UE activity information further comprises:

selecting, using the UE activity level information, one or more parameters which are used in a positioning method.

32. A network node comprising:

a processor configured to obtain user equipment, UE, activity information, wherein the UE activity information is associated with at least one of transmission activity and reception activity for a UE, and configured to use the obtained UE activity information to perform at least one of;

estimating at least one of an expected response time and a positioning quality associated with each of a plurality of positioning methods that can be selected for determining a position of the UE;

selecting a positioning method to determine a position for the UE;

adaptive enhanced cell identification, AECID; and

fingerprinting positioning of the UE.

33. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the UE activity information by autonomously determining the UE activity information based on information available in a communications network.

34. The network node of claim 33, further comprising:

an interface configured to receive, as said information, measurement reports from which the UE activity information can be determined, which measurement reports may be periodic or event-triggered, wherein a reporting interval associated with the measurement reports is used to determine the UE activity information.

35. The network node of claim 34, further comprising:

a memory unit configured to maintain predetermined information associated with expected UE reporting rates in different activity states; and

wherein the processor is further configured to determine the UE activity information by comparing a UE reporting rate and the predetermined information associated with expected UE reporting rates for different activity states to select one of the different activity states as the UE activity information.

36. The network node of claim 35, wherein the processor is further configured to collect measurement statistics for the UE, and to determine the UE activity information by comparing the measurement statistics for the UE with a reporting frequency of the UE at different time intervals.

37. The network node of claim 33, wherein the processor is further configured to collect measurement statistics and positioning results for a plurality of UEs;

and to determine the UE activity information based on both the collected measurement statistics and positioning results for the plurality of UEs.

38. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the UE activity information by receiving the UE activity information from at least one of the UE and another network node.

39. The network node of claim 38, wherein the another network node is one of:

a positioning node;

a network node which has positioning functionality;

a positioning platform in a user plane such as a secure user plane location, SUPL, a location platform, SLP, in a long term evolution, LTE, network;

a positioning node in a control plane such as an enhanced serving mobile location center, E-SMLC, in an LTE network, a radio network node such as an eNode B or a radio measurement unit; and

a network node such as a SON or MDT.

40. The network node of claim 32 above wherein the network node is a positioning node such as an E-SMLC in LTE.

41. The network node of claim 32, wherein the UE activity information includes one or more of:

a discontinuous reception, DRX, and/or discontinuous transmission DTX indication;

a DRX and/or DTX configuration;

a type of duplex mode of operation;

an uplink, UL, and/or downlink, DL, and special subframe configurations for time division duplex operation;

minimum UL and DL subframes in a frame for half duplex frequency division duplex operation;

a restricted measurement configuration;

a UE transmitting/receiving pattern over multiple carriers in a multi-carrier system;

a pattern describing periodicity and/or allocations of UE transmission and/or receiving activity;

a portion of time spent by the UE in an activity or inactivity state(s) during a positioning session; and

a measurement cycle used for performing measurement on secondary cells in carrier aggregation.

42. The network node of claim 32, wherein the UE activity information indicates at least one mode of transmit and/or receive operation which governs UE'"'"'s usage of transmit and/or receive air interface resources.

43. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by estimating an expected response time of at least one of a plurality of positioning methods in order to determine a respective length of a positioning session for the UE using each of the plurality of positioning methods.

44. The network node of claim 43, wherein the estimated length of the positioning session is used by the processor to perform at least one of:

reserving positioning resources, stopping the positioning session, delaying handover of the UE, deciding on a position session organization such as number of parallel measurements to be performed, and estimating an impact on battery lifetime.

45. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to by estimating at least one of positioning measurement quality characteristic and position quality of at least one from a plurality of positioning methods.

46. The network node of claim 45, the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by comparing the at least one of the estimated positioning measurement quality characteristic and position quality for the at least one of the plurality of positioning methods;

and selecting one of the plurality of positioning methods for use in determining a position of the UE based on the comparing.

47. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by selecting a positioning method using the obtained UE activity information by determining at least one of:

(a) measurement quality characteristic, (b) position quality of the positioning method, and (c) positioning response time of the positioning method.

48. The network node of claim 47, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the at least one of:

(a) measurement quality characteristic, (b) smaller positioning response time, (c) position quality of the positioning method, and (d) positioning response time of the positioning method for a given UE, based on collected statistics.

49. The network node of claim 47, wherein the processor is further configured to determine, when discontinuous reception, DRX, is used for the UE, a measurement delay based on a length of a DRX cycle for both observed time difference of arrival, OTDOA, and enhanced cell identification, E-CID, positioning methods and to select one of OTDOA and E-CID which has at least one of (a) a smaller measurement delay, (b) a better positioning measurement quality, and (c) a better position quality to use to perform positioning for the UE

50. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by using the obtained UE activity information for at least one of enhanced cell identification (E-CID), adaptive enhanced cell identification, AECID, fingerprinting positioning of the UE, OTDOA, UTDOA or an uplink positioning method.

51. The network node of claim 50, wherein the processor is further configured to tag measurements taken for at least one of enhanced cell identification (E-CID), adaptive enhanced cell identification, AECID, fingerprinting of the UE, OTDOA, UTDOA or an uplink positioning method with the UE activity information.

52. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by configuring the network node with at least one predetermined positioning method for the network node;

and selecting the at least one predetermined positioning method for the network node based upon the obtained UE activity information.

53. The network node of claim 52, wherein the at least one predetermined positioning method for the network node is a prioritized sequence of positioning methods for the network node to use based on an activity state of the UE.

54. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by using the obtained UE activity information to determine the amount of time required (Δ

t) by the UE for acquiring reference cell timing, and sending OTDOA assistance data at least Δ

t duration prior to a time when UE can start performing RSTD measurements of the requested cells

55. The network node of claim 54, wherein the processor is further configured to send the OTDOA assistance data at least Δ

t+T₀ duration prior to the time when the UE is able to complete the RSTD measurements of the requested cells;

wherein T0 is the time required by the UE to measure RSTD of cells when reference cell timing is known.

56. The network node of claim 54, wherein the duration (Δ

t) comprises at least time required by the UE to search or identify a reference cell.

57. The network node of claim 56, wherein the duration (Δ

t) further comprises time required by the UE to read the system information of a reference cell for acquiring the system frame number.

58. The network node of claim 54, wherein the UE activity information is the DRX cycle used by the UE.

59. The network node of claim 54, wherein the network node is a test equipment or a system simulator emulating a positioning node.

60. The network node of claim 54, wherein the network node is a positioning node such as E-SMLC in LTE

61. The network node of claim 32, wherein the processor is further configured to use the UE activity information by selecting, using the UE activity level information, one or more parameters which are used in a positioning method.

62. A device comprising:

a transceiver configured to transmit a message which includes information associated with a user equipment'"'"'s, UE'"'"'s, activity level, wherein the UE'"'"'s activity level information indicates a pattern of at least one of transmission and reception activity by the UE.

63. The device of claim 62, wherein the device is the UE.

64. The device of claim 62, wherein the device is a radio node.

65. The device of claim 62, wherein the information associated with the UE'"'"'s activity level comprises at least one of:

a discontinuous reception, DRX, and/or discontinuous transmission DTX indication;

a DRX and/or DTX configuration;

a type of duplex mode of operation;

an uplink, UL, and/or downlink, DL, and special subframe configurations for time division duplex operation;

minimum UL and DL subframes in a frame for half duplex frequency division duplex operation;

a restricted measurement configuration;

a UE transmitting/receiving pattern over multiple carriers in a multi-carrier system;

a pattern describing periodicity and/or allocations of UE transmission and/or receiving activity;

a portion of time spent by the UE in an activity or inactivity state(s) during a positioning session; and

a measurement cycle used for performing measurement on secondary cells in carrier aggregation.