METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOCATING A WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK IN A WIDE AREA NETWORK

• US 20130210485A1
• Filed: 03/27/2013
• Published: 08/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Nanda, Sanjiv, Gogic, Aleksandar M., Deshpande, Manoj M., Jain, Nikhail
• Granted Patent: US 8,798,008 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

The disclosure is directed to a mobile communication device that measures characteristics or attributes of a first communications network that vary according to physical location within that first communications network to create a fingerprint, or signature, of a location within the first communications network. When the fingerprint of the current location of the mobile device is created it can be compared to a known fingerprint associated with a second communication network to determine the mobile device'"'"'s proximity to the second communications network. For example, the first communications network may be a CDMA wide area wireless communication network and the second communications network may be a 802.11 wireless LAN.

Claims

1. A wireless communications device, comprising:

means for creating a signal attribute pattern for a first communications network by capturing a value of at least one attribute of at least one reference signal transmitted by a second communications network when the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network;

means for storing the signal attribute pattern; and

means for determining whether the wireless communications device is currently in the vicinity of the first communications network by comparing a current value of the at least one attribute from one or more reference signals received from the second communications network to the value of the at least one attribute in the stored signal attribute pattern.

2. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the one or more reference signals comprise pilot signals.

3. The wireless communications device of claim 1, further comprising means for receiving a user input to store the signal attribute pattern, wherein the signal attribute pattern is stored after receipt of the user input.

4. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the signal attribute pattern further includes at least one characteristic of transmission of the second communications network.

5. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute includes at least one attribute selected from a group consisting of phase offset of the one or more reference signals received from the second communications network, a number of pilot signals available, and a spreading code.

6. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises an averaged measurement of a collection of attributes of the second communications network that change based on location and that relate to a proximity of the first communications network, and wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises a characteristic of a transmitter of the second communications network.

7. A wireless communications device, comprising:

memory configured to store a signal attribute pattern for a first communications network; and

a processor configured to create the signal attribute pattern for the first communications network by capturing a value of at least one attribute of at least one reference signal transmitted by a second communications network when the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network, and to determine whether the wireless communications device is currently in the vicinity of the first communications network by comparing a current value of the at least one attribute from one or more reference signals received from the second communications network to the value of the at least one attribute in the signal attribute pattern stored in the memory.

8. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the at least one attribute includes at least one attribute selected from a group consisting of phase offset of the one or more reference signals received from the second communications network, a number of pilot signals available, and a spreading code.

9. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to use relative phase information from the one or more reference signals to determine whether the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network.

10. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the processor is further configured to use relative signal strength of the one or more reference signals

11. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the one or more reference signals comprise pilot signals.

12. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the memory is configured to store the signal attribute pattern for the first communications network based on the receipt of input from a user.

13. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the signal attribute pattern further includes at least one characteristic of transmission of the second communications network.

14. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises an averaged measurement of a collection of attributes of the second communications network that change based on location and that relate to a proximity of the first communications network, and wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises a characteristic of a transmitter of the second communications network.

15. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein:

the signal attribute pattern comprises a set of signal strength and phase offset values corresponding to the first communications network, and

the processor is configured to determine whether the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network by comparing current signal strength and phase offset values of the one or more reference signals received from the second communications network with the signal strength and phase offset values of the signal attribute pattern stored in the memory.

16. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein being in the vicinity of the first communications network corresponds to being within a coverage area of the first communications network.

17. The wireless communications device of claim 16, wherein the signal attribute pattern is created automatically upon connecting to the first communications network.

18. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein capturing the value of the at least one attribute of the at least one reference signal transmitted by the second communications network comprises taking a physical measurement of the at least one attribute to determine the value.

19. The wireless communications device of claim 11, wherein the at least one attribute comprises a pilot offset, a pilot signal strength or both.

20. The wireless communications device of claim 19, wherein the at least one attribute further comprises relative timing offsets of neighboring base stations deployed through the second communications network.

21. The wireless communications device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to create the signal attribute pattern for the first communications network by capturing a value of at least one attribute of at least two reference signals transmitted by at least two base stations in the second communications network when the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network, the signal attribute pattern comprising values of the at least one attribute captured from each of the at least two base stations.

22. The wireless communications device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the wireless communications device is currently in the vicinity of the first communications network by comparing a current value of the at least one attribute from one or more reference signals received from each of the at least two base stations in the second communications network to the corresponding values of the at least one attribute from each of the at least two base stations in the signal attribute pattern stored in the memory.

23. A wireless communications device, comprising:

memory configured to store a signal attribute pattern for each of a plurality of wireless local area networks dispersed through a wide area network; and

a processor configured to create the signal attribute pattern for each wireless local area network by capturing a value of at least one attribute of at least one reference signal transmitted by the wide area network when the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the wireless local area network, and to determine whether the wireless communications device is currently in the vicinity of one of the wireless local area networks by comparing a current value of the at least one attribute from one or more reference signals received from the wide area network to the value of the at least one attribute in the signal attribute pattern stored in the memory.

24. The wireless communications device of claim 23, wherein the at least one attribute includes at least one attribute selected from a group consisting of phase offset of the one or more reference signals received from base stations associated with the wide area network, a number of pilot signals available, and a spreading code.

25. The wireless communications device of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to use relative phase information from the one or more reference signals to determine whether the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of one of the wireless local area networks.

26. The wireless communications device of claim 23, wherein the processor is further configured to use relative signal strength of the one or more reference signals to determine whether the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of one of the wireless local area networks.

27. The wireless communications device of claim 23, wherein the one or more reference signals comprise pilot signals from base stations associated with the wide area network.

28. The wireless communications device of claim 23, wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises an averaged measurement of a collection of attributes of the wide area network that change based on location and that relate to a proximity of the plurality of wireless local area networks, and wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises a characteristic of a transmitter of the wide area network.

29. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodying a program of instructions executable by a computer to perform a method of communications for a wireless communications device, the method comprising:

creating a signal attribute pattern for a first communications network by capturing a value of at least one attribute of at least one reference signal transmitted by a second communications network when the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network;

storing the signal attribute pattern in memory;

processing one or more reference signals received from the second communications network; and

determining whether the wireless communications device is currently in the vicinity of the first communications network by comparing a current value of the at least one attribute from the one or more reference signals from the second communications network to the value of the at least one attribute in the signal attribute pattern stored in memory.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein creating the signal attribute pattern comprises detecting the one or more reference signals associated with the second communications network during a search.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises an averaged measurement of a collection of attributes of the second communications network that change based on location and that relate to a proximity of the first communications network, and wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises a characteristic of a transmitter of the second communications network.

32. A method of communications for a wireless communications device, comprising:

creating a signal attribute pattern for a first communications network by capturing a value of at least one attribute of at least one reference signal transmitted by a second communications network when the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network;

storing the signal attribute pattern in memory;

receiving one or more reference signals from the second communications network; and

determining whether the wireless communications device is in the vicinity of the first communications network by comparing a current value of the at least one attribute from the one or more reference signals from the second communications network to the value of the at least one attribute in the signal attribute pattern stored in memory.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein creating the signal attribute pattern comprises detecting the one or more reference signals associated with the second communications network during a search.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the one or more reference signals comprise pilot signals.

35. The method of claim 32, further comprising receiving a user input to store the signal attribute pattern for the first communications network, wherein creating and storing the signal attribute pattern is based on the received user input.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein the signal attribute pattern further includes at least one characteristic of transmission of the second communications network.

37. The method of claim 32, wherein the at least one attribute includes at least one attribute selected from a group consisting of phase offset of the one or more reference signals received from the second communications network, a number of pilot signals available, and a spreading code.

38. The method of claim 32, wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises an averaged measurement of a collection of attributes of the second communications network that change based on location and that relate to a proximity of the first communications network, and wherein the signal attribute pattern comprises a characteristic of a transmitter of the second communications network.