METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCED ROUND TRIP TIME (RTT) EXCHANGE

• US 20140355461A1
• Filed: 05/22/2014
• Published: 12/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Aldana, Carlos Horacio, Homchaudhuri, Sandip, Zhang, Xiaoxin, Shukla, Ashish Kumar, He, Xin
• Granted Patent: US 9,459,337 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/767 Responders; Transponders teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying using reflecting targets or active targets F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/019 Energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/06 Position of source determined by co-ordinating a plurality of position lines defined by path-difference measurements G01S5/12 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/005 of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
• 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 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

Disclosed are systems, methods and devices for obtaining round trip time measurements for use in location based services. In particular implementations, a fine timing measurement request message wirelessly transmitted by a first transceiver device to a second transceiver device may permit additional processing features in computing or applying a signal round trip time measurement. Such a signal round trip time measurement may be used in positioning operations.

Claims

1. A method comprising, at a first wireless transceiver device:

transmitting a fine timing measurement request message to a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from the second wireless transceiver in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message at the second wireless transceiver device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a time offset for transmission of an initial fine timing measurement message of the plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a frequency channel for transmission of a message from the second wireless transceiver device in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine timing measurement request message further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one field other than said trigger field is valid or accepted.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said at least one of said bits comprises a bit indicating whether a value in the at least one field specifying time offset for transmission of an initial fine timing measurement message of said plurality of fine timing measurement messages is valid or accepted.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine timing measurement request frame further comprises at least a “

Length”

field to enable truncation of the fine timing measurement request message at the second wireless transceiver device to exclude fields one or more fields following said “

Length”

field.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fine timing measurement request further comprises a “

Min_delta”

field specifying a minimum time duration between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in a burst of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages, wherein the Min_delta field and the at least one field specifying the offset immediately follow a “

Length”

field, and wherein said Length field enables truncation of the fine timing measurement request message to exclude fields following said Min_delta field and said at least one field specifying the offset.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a data rate at which to broadcast fine timing measurements which are requested for transmission in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine timing measurement request message further comprises at least one field specifying a duration of time that the first wireless transceiver device may be allowed to go off-channel or to sleep.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested number of fine timing measurement messages for transmission in said burst of fine timing measurement messages.

11. The method of claim 1, a field of the at least one field specifies a number of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from said second wireless transceiver device in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine timing measurement request frame further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one other field of said fine timing measurement request frame is valid or accepted, and wherein said at least one of said bits comprises a bit indicating whether a value in a field specifying a number of fine timing measurement messages for transmission in a burst of fine timing measurement messages is valid or accepted.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested period of time between initial fine timing measurement messages of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages for transmission from said second wireless transceiver in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a number of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages to be transmitted from said second wireless transceiver device in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine timing measurement request frame further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one other field of said fine timing measurement request frame is valid or accepted, and wherein said at least one of said bits comprises a bit indicating whether a value in the field specifying the requested period of time is valid or accepted.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a maximum time between transmission of the fine timing measurement request message at the first wireless transceiver device and receipt of a fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement frame at the first wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement frame expected to be transmitted by the second wireless transceiver device in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the fine timing measurement request frame further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one other field of said fine timing measurement request frame is valid or accepted, and wherein said at least one of said bits comprises a bit indicating whether a value in the at least one field specifying a maximum time between transmission of the fine timing measurement request message and receipt of the fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement message is valid or accepted.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a number of bursts of fine timing measurement messages to be transmitted by the second wireless transceiver device in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein, the fine timing measurement request message further comprises at least one field specifying a round-trip time (RTT) or range previously computed at the first wireless transceiver device, the RTT or range being computed based, at least in part, on a previous exchange of messages between the first and second wireless transceiver devices.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a minimum time duration between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in a burst of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the fine timing measurement request frame further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one other field of said fine timing measurement request frame is valid or accepted, and wherein said at least one of said bits comprises a bit indicating whether a value in said at least one field specifying said minimum time duration between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in a burst of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages is valid or accepted.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein a field of said at least one field indicates a willingness of the first wireless transceiver device to share time stamps or fine timing measurements derived from time stamps based on fine timing measurement messages received from the second wireless transceiver device.

23. The method of claim 1, and further comprising:

receiving a fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement message transmitted by said second wireless transceiver device in response to receipt of said fine timing measurement request message, the fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement message comprising at least one field indicating a barometric pressure measured at a location of the second wireless transceiver device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the at least one field in said fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement message comprises a predetermined number of bits specifying a pressure resolution portion, a predetermined number of bits specifying a pressure fraction, and a predetermined number of bits specifying an integer portion.

25. The method of claim 1, and further comprising:

receiving a fine timing measurement message transmitted by said second wireless transceiver device in response to receipt of said fine timing measurement request message comprising at least a first field specifying a time of arrival of said fine timing measurement request message at said second wireless transceiver device and second field specifying a time of departure of said fine timing measurement message from said second wireless transceiver device,

wherein values specified in said first and second fields are expressed as a fixed bit-length value, and

wherein the fine timing measurement message further comprises at least one field indicating that a value specified in either said first or second fields are discontinuous with corresponding values in a previously transmitted fine timing measurement message.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said values in said first and second fields are determined according to a fixed-bit counter, and wherein values specified in said first or second fields are indicated as being discontinuous if the counter exceeds a maximum value and begins counting at a minimum value.

27. A first wireless transceiver device comprising:

a transceiver to transmit messages to and receive messages from a wireless communication network; and

one or more processors to initiate transmission of a fine timing measurement request message through said transceiver to a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from the second wireless transceiver in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message at the second wireless transceiver device.

28. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a time offset for transmission of an initial fine timing measurement message of the plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

29. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein the fine timing measurement request message further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one field other than said trigger field is valid or accepted.

30. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a data rate at which to broadcast fine timing measurements which are requested for transmission in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

31. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested number of fine timing measurement messages for transmission in said burst of fine timing measurement messages.

32. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, a field of the at least one field specifies a number of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from said second wireless transceiver device in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

33. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested period of time between initial fine timing measurement messages of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages for transmission from said second wireless transceiver in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

34. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a maximum time between transmission of the fine timing measurement request message at the first wireless transceiver device and receipt of a fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement frame at the first wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement frame expected to be transmitted by the second wireless transceiver device in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message.

35. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a number of bursts of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission by the second wireless transceiver device in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

36. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein, the fine timing measurement request message further comprises at least one field specifying a round-trip time (RTT) or range previously computed at the first wireless transceiver device, the RTT or range being computed based, at least in part, on a previous exchange of messages between the first and second wireless transceiver devices.

37. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 27, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a minimum time duration between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in a burst of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

38. An article comprising:

A non-transitory storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which are executable by a special purpose computing apparatus of a first wireless transceiver device to;

initiate transmission of a fine timing measurement request message to a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from the second wireless transceiver in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message at the second wireless transceiver device.

39. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a time offset for transmission of an initial fine timing measurement message of the plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

40. The article of claim 38, wherein the fine timing measurement request message further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one field other than said trigger field is valid or accepted.

41. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a data rate at which to broadcast fine timing measurements which are requested for transmission in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

42. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested number of fine timing measurement messages for transmission in said burst of fine timing measurement messages.

43. The article of claim 38, a field of the at least one field specifies a number of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from said second wireless transceiver device in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

44. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested period of time between initial fine timing measurement messages of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages for transmission from said second wireless transceiver in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

45. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a maximum time between transmission of the fine timing measurement request message at the first wireless transceiver device and receipt of a fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement frame at the first wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message acknowledgement frame expected to be transmitted by the second wireless transceiver device in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message.

46. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a number of bursts of fine timing measurement messages to be transmitted by the second wireless transceiver device in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

47. The article of claim 38, wherein, the fine timing measurement request message further comprises at least one field specifying a round-trip time (RTT) or range previously computed at the first wireless transceiver device, the RTT or range being computed based, at least in part, on a previous exchange of messages between the first and second wireless transceiver devices.

48. The article of claim 38, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a minimum time duration between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in a burst of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

49. A first wireless transceiver device comprising:

means for transmitting a fine timing measurement request message to a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission from the second wireless transceiver in response to receipt of the fine timing measurement request message at the second wireless transceiver device; and

means for receiving from said second transceiver device one or more fine timing measurement request frames transmitted based, at least in part, on said at least one field.

50. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 49, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a time offset for transmission of an initial fine timing measurement message of the plurality of fine timing measurement messages.

51. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 49, wherein the fine timing measurement request message further comprises a trigger field defining a plurality of bits, at least one of said bits indicating whether a value in at least one field other than said trigger field is valid or accepted.

52. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 49, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested number of fine timing measurement messages for transmission in said burst of fine timing measurement messages.

53. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 49, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a requested period of time between initial fine timing measurement messages of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages for transmission from said second wireless transceiver in response to said fine timing measurement request message.

54. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 49, wherein a field of the at least one field specifies a number of bursts of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission by the second wireless transceiver device in response to the fine timing measurement request message.

55. A method comprising, at a first wireless transceiver device:

receiving a fine timing measurement request message from a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission; and

in response to receipt of said fine timing measurement request message, transmitting one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages to said second wireless transceiver device based, at least in part, on said at least one field.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises transmitting an initial fine timing measurement message of the plurality of fine timing measurement messages at a time offset based, at least in part on a field of the at least one field.

57. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises broadcasting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages at a data rate based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

58. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises transmitting a number of fine timing measurement messages for transmission in said burst based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

59. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises transmitting a number of consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

60. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises transmitting consecutive bursts of fine timing measurement messages while maintaining a period of time between initial fine timing measurement messages of consecutive bursts based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

61. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises transmitting a number of bursts of fine timing measurement messages based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

62. The method of claim 55, wherein transmitting the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages further comprises maintaining a minimum time duration between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in said burst based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

63. A first wireless transceiver device comprising:

a transceiver to transmit messages to and receive messages from a wireless communication network; and

one or more processors to;

obtain a fine timing measurement request message received at said transceiver from a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission; and

in response to receipt of said fine timing measurement request message, initiate transmission of one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages through said transceiver to said second wireless transceiver device based, at least in part, on said at least one field.

66. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted such that a number of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted in said burst based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

64. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted such that an initial fine timing measurement message of the plurality of fine timing measurement messages is transmitted at a time offset based, at least in part on a field of the at least one field.

65. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more processors are further to initiate broadcast of the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages through said transceiver at a data rate based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

67. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted such that a number of consecutive bursts are transmitted based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

68. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted such that a period of time between initial fine timing measurement messages of consecutive bursts is maintained based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

69. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted such that a number of bursts of fine timing measurement messages is transmitted based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

70. The first wireless transceiver device of claim 66, wherein the one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages are transmitted such that a minimum time duration is maintained between transmission of consecutive fine timing measurement messages in said burst based, at least in part, on a field of the at least one field.

71. An article comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which are executable by a special purpose computing apparatus of a first wireless transceiver device to;

obtain a fine timing measurement request message received at said first wireless transceiver device from a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission; and

in response to receipt of said fine timing measurement request message, initiate transmission of one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages to said second wireless transceiver device based, at least in part, on said at least one field.

72. A first wireless transceiver device comprising:

means for receiving a fine timing measurement request message from a second wireless transceiver device, the fine timing measurement request message comprising at least one field specifying one or more aspects for transmission of a plurality of fine timing measurement messages in a burst of fine timing measurement messages requested for transmission; and

means for transmitting one or more bursts of fine timing measurement messages to said second wireless transceiver device in response to receipt of said fine timing measurement request message based, at least in part, on said at least one field.