METHODS AND DEVICES FOR POSITIONING AN ACCESS TERMINAL UTILIZING A HIGHLY DETECTABLE PILOT

• US 20130229961A1
• Filed: 08/30/2012
• Published: 09/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Ma, Jun, Zhao, Wanlun, Attar, Rashid Ahmed Akbar
• Application Number:
  US13/599,017
• Publication Number:
  US 20130229961A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/311
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0226 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70701 featuring pilot assisted reception
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70715 with application-specific features
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for positioning an access terminal in a CDMA wireless communication network utilizing a highly detectable pilot (HDP) scheme. Here, transmissions by base stations are divided in the time dimension into a plurality of time slots, or pilot control groups (PCGs). A subset of these time slots, according to a duty cycle, are exclusively allocated to the transmission of the HDP signals, while conventional data, control, and pilot transmissions are forgone during these HDP time slots. Among the HDP time slots, in accordance with a re-use pattern, groups of the cells take turns transmitting the HDPs at full base station power. In this way, access terminals are better capable of receiving a greater set of pilot signals for utilization in trilateration of the access terminals. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also claimed and described.

Claims

1. A method of positioning an access terminal in a wireless communication network, comprising:

transmitting a pilot if a current time slot is a designated highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot; and

blanking pilot, traffic, and signaling transmissions if the current time slot is an HDP time slot that is not a designated HDP time slot.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication network is a cdma2000 1×

network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the pilot comprises transmitting at a full base station power level.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein a plurality of HDP time slots are a portion of all time slots in accordance with a duty cycle, and

wherein the designated HDP time slot is one of a plurality of designated HDP time slots, wherein the plurality of designated HDP time slots are a portion of the plurality of HDP time slots in accordance with a re-use factor.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the duty cycle is 0.5%, 1%, or 2% of all the time slots.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the re-use factor is one out of every nine HDP time slots.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving from a network server a predetermined assignment of the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot; and

transmitting a configuration message for indicating the predetermined assignment to one or more access terminals.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP packet.

12. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

randomly selecting the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot from among the plurality of HDP time slots; and

transmitting a configuration message for indicating the selected designated HDP time slot to one or more access terminals.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP message.

17. A method of positioning an access terminal in a wireless communication network, comprising:

determining that a current time slot is a highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot;

receiving an HDP transmission during the current time slot;

storing information corresponding to the received HDP in memory;

transmitting a reporting message comprising the information corresponding to the received HDP; and

receiving position information responsive to the transmitting of the reporting message.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving a configuration message for indicating an HDP configuration of the wireless communication network,

wherein the configuration message comprises an HDP-to-time slot mapping adapted to indicate which time slots are the HDP time slots.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the HDP configuration message is received on a paging channel (PCH).

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the HDP configuration message is received as an IP message.

21. A base station configured for positioning an access terminal in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for transmitting a pilot if a current time slot is a designated highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot; and

means for blanking pilot, traffic, and signaling transmissions if the current time slot is an HDP time slot that is not a designated HDP time slot.

22. The base station of claim 21, wherein the wireless communication network is a cdma2000 1×

network.

23. The base station of claim 21, wherein the means for transmitting the pilot is configured for transmitting at a full base station power level.

24. The base station of claim 21,

wherein a plurality of HDP time slots are a portion of all time slots in accordance with a duty cycle, and

wherein the designated HDP time slot is one of a plurality of designated HDP time slots, wherein the plurality of designated HDP time slots are a portion of the plurality of HDP time slots in accordance with a re-use factor.

25. The base station of claim 24, wherein the duty cycle is 0.5%, 1%, or 2% of all the time slots.

26. The base station of claim 24, wherein the re-use factor is one out of every nine HDP time slots.

27. The base station of claim 24, further comprising:

means for receiving from a network server a predetermined assignment of the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot; and

means for transmitting a configuration message for indicating the predetermined assignment to one or more access terminals.

28. The base station of claim 27, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

29. The base station of claim 28, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

30. The base station of claim 27, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

31. The base station of claim 27, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP packet.

32. The base station of claim 24, further comprising:

means for randomly selecting the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot from among the plurality of HDP time slots; and

means for transmitting a configuration message for indicating the selected designated HDP time slot to one or more access terminals.

33. The base station of claim 32, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

34. The base station of claim 33, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

35. The base station of claim 32, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

36. The base station of claim 32, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP message.

37. An access terminal configured for positioning in a wireless communication network, comprising:

means for determining that a current time slot is a highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot;

means for receiving an HDP transmission during the current time slot;

means for storing information corresponding to the received HDP in memory;

means for transmitting a reporting message comprising the information corresponding to the received HDP; and

means for receiving position information responsive to the transmitting of the reporting message.

38. The access terminal of claim 37, further comprising:

means for receiving a configuration message for indicating an HDP configuration of the wireless communication network,

wherein the configuration message comprises an HDP-to-time slot mapping adapted to indicate which time slots are the HDP time slots.

39. The access terminal of claim 38, wherein the HDP configuration message is received on a paging channel (PCH).

40. The access terminal of claim 38, wherein the HDP configuration message is received as an IP message.

41. A base station configured for positioning an access terminal in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a processing circuit;

a communications interface coupled to the processing circuit; and

a memory coupled to the processing circuit,

wherein the processing circuit is configured to;

transmit a pilot if a current time slot is a designated highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot; and

blank pilot, traffic, and signaling transmissions if the current time slot is an HDP time slot that is not a designated HDP time slot.

42. The base station of claim 41, wherein the wireless communication network is a cdma2000 1×

network.

43. The base station of claim 41, wherein the transmitting of the pilot comprises transmitting at a full base station power level.

44. The base station of claim 41,

wherein a plurality of HDP time slots are a portion of all time slots in accordance with a duty cycle, and

wherein the designated HDP time slot is one of a plurality of designated HDP time slots, wherein the plurality of designated HDP time slots are a portion of the plurality of HDP time slots in accordance with a re-use factor.

45. The base station of claim 44, wherein the duty cycle is 0.5%, 1%, or 2% of all the time slots.

46. The base station of claim 44, wherein the re-use factor is one out of every nine HDP time slots.

47. The base station of claim 44, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive from a network server a predetermined assignment of the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot; and

transmit a configuration message for indicating the predetermined assignment to one or more access terminals.

48. The base station of claim 47, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

49. The base station of claim 48, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

50. The base station of claim 47, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

51. The base station of claim 47, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP packet.

52. The base station of claim 44, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

randomly select the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot from among the plurality of HDP time slots; and

transmit a configuration message for indicating the selected designated HDP time slot to one or more access terminals.

53. The base station of claim 52, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

54. The base station of claim 53, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

55. The base station of claim 52, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

56. The base station of claim 52, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP message.

57. An access terminal configured for positioning in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a processing circuit;

a communications interface coupled to the processing circuit; and

a memory coupled to the processing circuit,

wherein the processing circuit is configured to;

determine that a current time slot is a highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot;

receive an HDP transmission during the current time slot;

store information corresponding to the received HDP in memory;

transmit a reporting message comprising the information corresponding to the received HDP; and

receive position information responsive to the transmitting of the reporting message.

58. The access terminal of claim 57, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to:

receive a configuration message for indicating an HDP configuration of the wireless communication network,

wherein the configuration message comprises an HDP-to-time slot mapping adapted to indicate which time slots are the HDP time slots.

59. The access terminal of claim 58, wherein the HDP configuration message is received on a paging channel (PCH).

60. The access terminal of claim 58, wherein the HDP configuration message is received as an IP message.

61. A computer program product operable at a base station, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising;

instructions for causing a computer to;

transmit a pilot if a current time slot is a designated highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot; and

blank pilot, traffic, and signaling transmissions if the current time slot is an HDP time slot that is not a designated HDP time slot.

62. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the wireless communication network is a cdma2000 1×

network.

63. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the transmitting of the pilot comprises transmitting at a full base station power level.

64. The computer program product of claim 61,

wherein a plurality of HDP time slots are a portion of all time slots in accordance with a duty cycle, and

wherein the designated HDP time slot is one of a plurality of designated HDP time slots, wherein the plurality of designated HDP time slots are a portion of the plurality of HDP time slots in accordance with a re-use factor.

65. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the duty cycle is 0.5%, 1%, or 2% of all the time slots.

66. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the re-use factor is one out of every nine HDP time slots.

67. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to:

receive from a network server a predetermined assignment of the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot; and

transmit a configuration message for indicating the predetermined assignment to one or more access terminals.

68. The computer program product of claim 67, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

69. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

70. The computer program product of claim 67, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

71. The computer program product of claim 67, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP packet.

72. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to:

randomly select the designated HDP time slot for transmission of the pilot from among the plurality of HDP time slots; and

transmit a configuration message for indicating the selected designated HDP time slot to one or more access terminals.

73. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the configuration message comprises one or more of the HDP duty cycle, the HDP re-use factor, or a pilot-to-HDP time slot mapping.

74. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the configuration message further comprises one or more of a Walsh code, a pseudorandom number sequence, or a pseudorandom number offset to utilize for the pilot transmissions.

75. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the configuration message is transmitted on a paging channel (PCH).

76. The computer program product of claim 72, wherein the configuration message is transmitted to an access terminal utilizing an IP message.

77. A computer program product operable at an access terminal, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium comprising;

instructions for causing a computer to;

determine that a current time slot is a highly detectable pilot (HDP) time slot;

receive an HDP transmission during the current time slot;

store information corresponding to the received HDP in memory;

transmit a reporting message comprising the information corresponding to the received HDP; and

receive position information responsive to the transmitting of the reporting message.

78. The access terminal of claim 77, wherein the computer-readable storage medium further comprises instructions for causing a computer to:

receive a configuration message for indicating an HDP configuration of the wireless communication network,

wherein the configuration message comprises an HDP-to-time slot mapping adapted to indicate which time slots are the HDP time slots.

79. The access terminal of claim 78, wherein the HDP configuration message is received on a paging channel (PCH).

80. The access terminal of claim 78, wherein the HDP configuration message is received as an IP message.